Rates of Opioid Use Remain High Among US Adolescents
Researchers investigate trends in opioid use, prescriptions, misuse, and access reported by adolescents and young adults.
Researchers Find Bias in Industry-Funded Continuing Medical Education
Industry-funded continuing medical education (CME) influences physicians to prescribe more opioids, focus less on the consequences.
Opioids May Cause Depression and Worsen Chronic Pain
“Converging lines of evidence now suggest that depression—a common comorbidity in the setting of chronic pain—may in some patients represent an unrecognized yet potentially reversible harm of opioid therapy.”
Benzodiazepine Prescriptions in Older Adults Used in Rural and Low Income Areas
Benzodiazepine prescription practices may be in response to an epidemic of distress, rather than being used to treat specific mental health diagnoses.
Can Education Level Predict Prescription Drug Misuse in Young Adults?
A new study examines the extent to which patterns in prescription drug misuse and substance use disorder symptoms can be predicted by education level
How Big Pharma Deceives You About Drug Safety
From The Conversation: A Saskatchewan judge recently rejected a proposed settlement between the Canadian provinces and Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, over the opioid...
Experts ‘In Denial’ Over Withdrawal Harm From Prescription Pills
From The Herald: MSP (Member of the Scottish Parliament) Michelle Ballantyne has spoken out about the epidemic of withdrawal effects of prescription pills, critiquing physicians'...
The Corruption of Evidence Based Medicine — Killing for Profit
From Medium: According to many prominent physicians, so-called "evidence based medicine" is no longer useful. Much of the evidence base has been corrupted by the...
Xanax Nation
In this blog post, Andy White highlights the role Xanax plays in silencing political dissent and keeping the public complacent. Instead of expressing anger...
Opioid Bill Includes Involuntary Commitment
From EDS and Chronic Pain News & Info: Recent legislation has proposed measures that permit people to be involuntarily committed on the basis of perceived...
Experts Warn of an Emerging ‘Stimulant Epidemic’
From Medscape: While policymakers and members of the general public are justifiably focused on addressing the opioid epidemic, there is another epidemic that may be...
To Treat Pain, PTSD and Other Ills, Veterans Try Tai Chi
From NPR: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has launched a new program that offers wheelchair tai chi classes in order to help veterans manage...
CBT and Educational Intervention Reduce Chronic Pain, Study Finds
Research examines the effects of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) on experiences of chronic pain among low-income patients.
The More Opioids Doctors Prescribe, the More Money They Make
An exclusive analysis by CNN and researchers at Harvard University found that opioid manufacturers are paying physicians huge sums of money — and that doctors with higher...
Bill to Force Pharma to Disclose Payments to Advocacy Groups
From STAT: Last month, Senator Claire McCaskill released a report showing that opioid manufacturers had funneled nearly $9 million to patient advocacy groups between 2012...
The Poison We Pick
In this piece for New York Magazine, Andrew Sullivan traces the history of the use of opiates in the U.S. and explores the social, economic,...
Pharma Backing of Advocacy Groups: A Call for Transparency
From HealthNewsReview.org: In light of the opioid crisis, lawmakers are growing increasingly concerned about financial conflicts of interest in patient advocacy groups. Ontario has enacted...
The Opioid Diaries
From TIME: Over the past year, photographer James Nachtwey set out to document the opioid crisis, the worst addiction epidemic in American history. Here, Nachtwey's...
Congress Did Something Extraordinary for Vulnerable Children
From The Intercept: A new piece of legislation attempting to revolutionize the foster care system recently passed despite significant opposition. The Family First Prevention Services...
Polypharmacy is Compounding the Opioid Epidemic
From The Lown Institute: The recent deaths of several beloved musicians, actors, and other public figures have brought to light the dangers of taking multiple, potentially fatal drugs.
"In...
An Overlooked Factor in the Opioid Crisis
From It's Not Just an Opioid Crisis: The media are saturated with coverage of the familial and community devastation that has resulted from the opioid...
Prescription Drug Addiction: Government Launches Investigation
From The Guardian: The British government has ordered an investigation into the growing problem of addiction to prescription drugs such as opioids, benzodiazepines, and antidepressants.
Article...
In Opioid Battle, Cherokee Want Their Day in Tribal Court
From The New York Times: The opioid epidemic is wreaking havoc on Cherokee families and putting Cherokee children at risk. Now, the Cherokee Nation has...
The Inaugural “Shkreli Awards!”
This piece for the Lown Institute lists 10 of the most egregious examples of profit-mongering and lack of empathy in healthcare in 2017. These examples include...
Podcast: The Top 10 Quotes of 2017
In this podcast for HealthNewsReview.org, Michael Joyce shares what he considers the 10 most compelling quotes from last year's podcast episodes. The quotes include a wide variety...
