It might seem like an odd concept: using drugs to gain control over drug use. But especially for people addicted to opioids such as heroin or prescription painkillers, medication-assisted treatment with drugs such as Suboxone (a mix of buprenorphine and naloxone) or methadone can save lives.
Illinois lawmakers are working on a bill that would let school nurses give students overdosing on opioid prescriptions or heroin the drug that could save their lives. Naloxone (brand name Narcan) is known as the overdose antidote because it can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose and prevent fatalities. This drug is most often …
Illinois May Soon Put Overdose Antidote in Hands of School Nurses Read More »
The FDA has announced that the opioid drug Embeda will now have an acknowledgement of its abuse-deterrent properties on its label. According to the new label, Embeda has properties expected to reduce abuse of the drug when it’s crushed, but the protection against abuse is far from perfect. Finding out more about the drug, the …
Abuse-Deterrent Labeling for Opioid Drug Embeda Gets FDA Nod Read More »
Researchers and addiction specialists are well aware that people affected by physical dependence and drug addiction commonly have a susceptibility to certain social and environmental cues that make ongoing substance use and relapses during substance treatment more likely. However, fairly little is known about the specific drug cues that motivate people physically dependent on prescription …
Which Drug Use Cues Play a Role in Prescription Opioid Dependence? Read More »
Naloxone is a medication that temporarily stops heroin and other opioid substances from reaching the brain. When used promptly, it can help stop a person from dying from an opioid overdose. In recent years, public health officials and researchers have sought to increase the availability of naloxone and make the drug easier to administer in …
Intranasal Naloxone on Fast Track for Opioid Overdose Read More »
A prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) is an official database of information on prescribers and recipients of controlled substances. The idea is that when doctors and pharmacists can see exactly who is obtaining prescription drugs, the public’s ability to abuse those drugs will be minimized. The database is also open to law enforcement. A recent …
Missouri Holds Out on Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs Read More »
The Food and Drug Administration has fast-tracked a nasal spray application of naloxone, a highly effective medicine that helps save the lives of addicts in the midst of a heroin overdose. Faced with an alarming rise in the abuse of opiates such as heroin and prescription painkillers, the FDA moved to accelerate the approval process of …
Naloxone Nasal Device New Way to Treat Heroin Overdose Read More »
The National Football League has been sued by more than 600 retired players, who have charged that they were wrongfully doped with addictive painkillers to keep them on the field at the expense of their health. This marks the second time in a week that makers of opiate drugs have been pulled into lawsuits. On …
Ex-Players Say NFL Handed Out Painkillers ‘Like Candy’ Read More »
People affected by opioid addiction sometimes receive one of two opioid-based medications, called methadone and buprenorphine, as part of their treatment. Current evidence indicates that significant numbers of people who abuse these medications also get involved in the abuse of common prescription substances called benzodiazepines. In a study published in May 2014 in the journal …
Methadone and Benzodiazepines Deadly Combination Read More »
Intravenous heroin users rely on a needle and syringe to inject the powerful opioid narcotic heroin directly into the bloodstream. In addition to the risks for drug addiction common to all people who take the drug, IV users have increased risks for serious or fatal bloodborne infections such as hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS. In a …
‘Every “Never” I Ever Said Came True’: Transitions From Opioid Pills to Heroin Injecting Read More »