FSMB Releases Updated Guidelines for Chronic Use of Opioid Analgesics
Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB)The Federation of State Medical Boards releases its updated guidelines for the chronic use of opioid analgesics.
The Federation of State Medical Boards releases its updated guidelines for the chronic use of opioid analgesics.
Forests in Central America are diminishing at alarming rates for reasons you would never suspect.
Patients who received their first opioid prescription for an ankle sprain treated in U.S. emergency departments commonly received prescriptions for anywhere from 15 to 40 pills, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Those who received 30 or more pills compared to less than 15 pills were twice as likely to fill an additional opioid prescription within three to six months. The authors say the results point to the urgent need for policies and guidelines to address when opioid medications are indicated for minor injuries and to reduce the number of pills supplied for opioid prescriptions.
Researchers surveyed individuals entering NYC EDM parties about their drug usage, with almost one out of ten participants who reported no “bath salt” use as per the gate question then reported use of one or more drugs in this class, such as methylone, providing evidence of under-reporting.
A new study by RTI International suggests that unexpected highs are a consequence of using new marijuana products and edibles—products that have flooded the marijuana market since legalization of recreational marijuana use.
The criminalization of drug use has a negative effect on efforts to prevent the spread of HIV and to treat people with the infection, suggests a review of published research conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the University of British Columbia.
There are important risks associated with opioids. The guideline aspires to promote evidence-based prescribing of opioids for chronic non-cancer pain.
TROSA, a therapeutic community providing substance abuse treatment and job training, saves North Carolina $7.5 million every year, according to an independent study conducted by RTI International.
Mothers smoking crack cocaine during pregnancy—and its lingering effects on their children—are the focus of 20-plus years of ongoing research by Case Western Reserve University
Less than half of Americans can recognize anxiety. Most people don’t know what to do about depression even when they spot it. And nearly 8 in 10 don’t recognize prescription drug abuse as a treatable problem.
A new study by RTI International and Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, published in Pain suggests that opioid use among Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and Operation New Dawn (OND) veterans is roughly comparable to that of the general U.S. population.
Almost one-fifth of patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) in a large healthcare system died during a four-year follow-up period, reports a study in the Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.
People who are addicted to opioids and receiving their medical care in a general health care setting were more than 10 times as likely to die during a four-year period than people without substance abuse problems, UCLA researchers have found.
As substance abuse continues to be a health concern in colleges and universities across the U.S., a social scientist from the University of Missouri has found that female student-athletes who volunteer in their communities and engage in helping behaviors are less likely to partake in dangerous alcohol and marijuana use.
Rather than being considered a miracle pill that magically takes away pain, prescription opioids are increasingly being seen as a precursor to heroin addiction and the cause of potentially deadly overdoses themselves.
Two research teams from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania are among the recipients of the 2017 Clinical Research Achievement Award.
Medication for addiction treatment (MAT) with buprenorphine or methadone is an appropriate and accepted treatment for pregnant women with opioid use disorder (OUD), according to a research review and update in the Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.
HMS launches free online course to educate clinicians, the public
As a primary point of contact for patients receiving anesthesia, procedural sedation, and pain management services, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) are answering the Surgeon General’s call to end the opioid crisis with a more holistic approach to pain management designed to reduce dependence on prescription medications and offering patients greater transparency, understanding and engagement in their own care.
New research from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) suggests that the reason methamphetamine users find it so hard to quit—88 percent of them relapse, even after rehab—is that meth takes advantage of the brain’s natural learning process.
In the study, hair samples from 80 young adults outside of NYC nightclubs and dance festivals, were tested for 82 drugs and metabolites (including NPS) using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry.
As a physician, I urge caution as we cut back opioids
Large portions of the Southeast don’t have enough opioid treatment programs to match their high rates of opioid use disorder.
Rutgers Expands Treatment for Substance Abuse and Mood Disorders
"The difference with children and teenagers versus adults is that young people are still making connections in their brains that they're going to have for a lifetime," said Dr. Leslie Walker-Harding, chair of pediatrics and medical director at Penn State Children’s Hospital.
Heroin use is associated with excessive histone acetylation, an epigenetic process that regulates gene expression, and more years of drug use correlate with higher levels of hyperacetylation, according to research conducted at The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
Opioids, including heroin and prescription drugs, killed 33,000-plus people in 2015, more than any year on record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. President Trump’s proposed budget aims to bring a $500 million increase in funding for prevention and treatment, but that amount isn’t enough to address the crisis, says an expert on substance use disorder treatment at Washington University in St.
Drug diversion is a significant contributing factor in prescription pain medication misuse and deadly overdoses. A new oral fluid monitoring test, announced today by Cordant Health Solutions, www.cordantsolutions.com, reports more detailed and actionable information to clinicians than urine drug tests, which can potentially improve therapy adherence, patient safety, and help to identify drug diversion.
States where Medicaid coverage was expanded under the Affordable Care Act have had a significant increase in prescribing of buprenorphine—a medication that plays an important role in addressing the opioid epidemic, reports a study in the April issue of Medical Care. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.
Veterans who have drug or alcohol problems are more than twice as likely to die by suicide as their comrades, a new study finds. And women veterans with substance use disorders have an even higher rate of suicide -- more than five times that of their peers, the research shows.
Online media briefing to announce first saliva test to measure steady-state opioid drug levels in doctors’ offices. Test verifies therapy compliance and helps prevent drug misuse and diversion.
A study by researchers at the University of Vermont has revealed a link between adult opioid misuse and childhood emotional abuse, a new finding that suggests a rethinking of treatment approaches for opioid abusers.
An emergency room visit for an illness or injury may seem like a strange time to try to motivate someone to cut back on using drugs. But a new study suggests that even a half-hour chat with a trained counselor, or a few minutes using a special tablet computer program with a “virtual therapist”, can turn an emergency room trip into the basis for a long-lasting drop in a person’s use of illegal drugs or misuse of prescription medicines.
Addiction medicine expert Petros Levounis says a maintenance treatment that combines medication with behavioral treatment and recovery support gives patients the best chance of sustainable recovery
Dr. Chaudhry (FSMB President and CEO) sits down with Dr. Daniel Gifford, Immediate Past Chairman of the FSMB Board of Directors and Chair of the Workgroup on FSMB’s Model Policy on the Use of Opioid Analgesics in the Treatment of Chronic Pain. Drs. Chaudhry and Gifford discuss the work of FSMB's Workgroups as they prepare for the future of medical regulation and assisting state medical boards in their mission to protect the public.
More than two in five people receiving buprenorphine, a drug commonly used to treat opioid addiction, are also given prescriptions for other opioid painkillers – and two-thirds are prescribed opioids after their treatment is complete, a new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health study suggests.
Fathers who use cocaine at the time of conceiving a child may be putting their sons at risk of learning disabilities and memory loss. The findings of the animal study were published online in Molecular Psychiatry by a team of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
A tiny snail may offer an alternative to opioids for pain relief. Scientists at the University of Utah have found a compound that blocks pain by targeting a pathway not associated with opioids. Research in rodents indicates that the benefits continue long after the compound have cleared the body.
How easy do adolescents think it is to get heroin? A Saint Louis University researcher examines how their perceptions have changed from 2002 to 2014.
The average news consumer might be surprised to learn that the economic costs of alcohol abuse far exceed those related to illegal drug use. In California, alcohol abuse cost $129 billion in 2010, $3,450 per California resident. That was almost three times the $44 billion bill for illicit drug use. The largest cost contributors were mortality, impaired driving, and violence. The costs varied greatly from city to city and county to county.
At a glance: New research shows great variation among clinicians’ opioid prescribing practices and links physician prescription patterns to patients’ risk for subsequent long-term opioid use. Being treated by an emergency room physician who prescribes opioids more frequently increases a patient’s risk of long-term opioid use and other adverse outcomes. The results suggest that differences in clinicians’ prescribing habits may be helping to fuel the opioid epidemic sweeping the United States.
A number of animal studies and a small human pilot study have revealed that cannabinoids, extracts of cannabis legally sold as medical marijuana, could reduce cravings and ease withdrawal symptoms in heroin users.
Cocaine use has long been tied anecdotally to higher-than-usual rates of impulsive behavior, including risky sex, but the tie-in has been difficult to study with any scientifically controlled rigor.
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found that deep brain stimulation (DBS) can greatly reduce the compulsion to use heroin in standard rat models of addiction.
Nationwide, the mortality rate from deaths caused by drugs, alcohol and suicide rose 52 percent from 2000 to 2014, according to new research from the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. Most of the increase was driven by a surge in prescription opioid and heroin overdoses.