Opioid-related Overdose Deaths Are a National Epidemic

A report on the increase in unintentional drug overdoses emphasizes the role of nonmedical opioid abuse, but also says physicians share some blame.

A recently released report authored by experts from the CDC, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, and Duke University Medical Center shows that in 40% of US states, unintentional drug overdoses kill more people than motor vehicle accidents and suicides.

Calling this trend a “national epidemic,” the authors of the report, published on the website of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, wrote that one potential contributor to the dramatic increase in unintentional overdose deaths in the US in the last two decades is that “psychiatrists and many primary care physicians might not be familiar with existing evidence-based guidelines for opioid prescribing or with programs designed to reduce the abuse of prescription drugs such as state prescription drug monitoring programs.”

A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine news release accompanying the publication of the report noted that prescription opioid pain medications “are driving this overdose epidemic,” with data showing that in 2007 “unintentional deaths due to prescription opioid pain killers were involved in more overdose deaths than heroin and cocaine combined.”

via hcplive.com

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Drugs: Spending on prescriptions is slowing - Health Key

mericans consume a lot of prescription drugs. And they seem especially fond of those to lower their cholesterol, relieve their heartburn, cheer them up and take away pain. Overall, however, their spending on such drugs is slowing.

A new report from consulting firm IMS Health offers a quick, but thorough, look at Americans' consumption of, and spending on, prescription drugs. In 2010, the report says, we spent more than $307 billion on medication. That’s up over 2009, but only by 2.3%.

The report’s introduction frames the trend nicely: “A number of factors contributed to this comparatively and historically low growth, including fewer patient visits to doctors’ offices, patent expirations for branded products, expanded usage of existing generic products and less spending on new products.”

Now, drum roll, please...Here are the top five classes of drugs prescribed in America:

via healthkey.com

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Drug Shortages Distress Hospitals - WSJ.com

A shortage of injectable generic drugs for cancer and other serious diseases is putting pressure on hospitals, which are sometimes having to scramble to locate the medicines or search for alternative treatments.

The supply of these drugs has tightened in recent years as the generic-drug industry has consolidated, with many of the drugs now made by just one or two companies. In many cases patents have long expired and the original brand-name drug is no longer being produced.

Federal regulators have also stepped up enforcement of quality standards, limiting the ability of large manufacturers to ramp up production.

The drugs—typically used in hospitals and outpatient clinics—often require complex manufacturing processes with long lead times. Because factories produce many kinds of medicines, companies say they can't easily make more of one without creating a shortage in another.

via online.wsj.com

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Pain Medication Mistakes: Overdoses, Side Effects, and More

It's been a hard day, and Joe's back is killing him.

His wife has some Percocet left over from a trip to the dentist, and there's that big bottle of Tylenol under the sink, so Joe grabs a couple of each and washes them down with a slug of beer.

Luckily for Joe, he's a fictional character invented for this article. But there are a lot of real-life Joes out there making big mistakes with over-the-counter and prescription pain pills.

Can you spot Joe's mistakes? Joe didn't make every mistake in the book. But he made quite a few.

Here's WebMD's list of common pain pill mistakes, compiled with the help of pharmacist Kristen A. Binaso, RPh, spokeswoman for the American Pharmacists Association; and pain specialist Eric R. Haynes, MD, founder of Comprehensive Pain Management Partners in Trinity, Fla.

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Looking Photos of Loved Ones Gives Relief from Pain | TopNews United States

According to the scientists at Stanford University, looking pictures of loved ones reduces pain.

Their study revealed that watching image of romantic partner dulls the activity in the pain-processing part of the brain, to a same degree as paracetamol or cocaine.

In this study, brains of love struck students were subjected to MRI scan as they were made to focus on their love partners while varying heat pains were given on their skin.

Neuroscientist Jarred Younger found that average pain got reduced by 36 to 44 percent and intense pain got reduced by 13 percent.

In a study published in the U. S. journal Public Library of Science, the post-doctoral scholar said, "The reduction of pain is associated with higher, cortical parts of the brain."

It was found that more primitive aspect of the brain block pain at a spinal level, quite similar to how opoid analgesics work.

Key site for love-induced analgesia is the nucleus accumbens, a key reward addition centre for opoids, and other drugs. This tells us that we do not need to depend on drugs to reduce pain.

Researchers at the University of California found that women showed significant reduction in pain experience while holding their partner’s hand.

via topnews.us

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FDA seeks less acetaminophen in prescription drugs | Reuters

U.S. health regulators are requesting a limit on the amount of acetaminophen in prescription pain medicines in an effort to curb the risk of liver damage.

The move announced on on Thursday aims to limit combination drugs such as the opioids Percocet and Vicodin to 325 milligrams of acetaminophen per pill and calls for them to carry a "black box" warning about potential liver failure.

Some of these medicines now contain as much as 750 milligrams of acetaminophen, a drug also sold over the counter in lower doses as a generic painkiller and Johnson & Johnson's Tylenol.

"This change will provide an increased margin of safety to help prevent liver damage due to acetaminophen overdosing, a serious public health problem," the U.S. Food and Drug Administration wrote in a public notice.

via reuters.com

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