Opiates

Industry-funded continuing medical education (CME) influences physicians to prescribe more opioids, focus less on the consequences.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration yesterday mandated updated labels for nearly 400 opioids and benzodiazepines, following a review of scientific evidence and a citizen...

Benzodiazepine prescription practices may be in response to an epidemic of distress, rather than being used to treat specific mental health diagnoses.

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...

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...

“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.”

On this episode of America's Lawyer, Mike Papantonio discusses the numerous lawsuits pending involving the anti-psychotic drug Abilify, which has caused plaintiffs to develop serious...

From My Science Academy: In a recent study, up to 81 drugs and personal care products were detected in the flesh of salmon caught in Puget...

Researchers at Harvard Medical School highlight the need for mental health clinicians to explore the meaning of physical symptoms and pain

From ACEs Connection: According to Dr. Daniel Sumrok, director of the Center for Addiction Sciences at the University of Tennessee, addiction is a normal response to...

In 2014, then National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) director, Thomas Insel, speculated that ketamine “might be the most important breakthrough in antidepressant treatment in decades.” A recent review of the research suggests that while ketamine may produce a rapid short-term improvement in depression, the effect is short-lived and the potential for addiction and dependence warrants considerable caution.

The quickest way to restore safe use of opioid prescription is to insist that the drug companies that promoted the overuse of opioids now create a pot of money to develop powerful TV, radio, and print ads, free continuing education offerings, and drug rehabilitation research.

Findings show that participants with lower levels of education and SES suffer from more chronic pain.

From The Guardian: In a society where unemployment is prevalent and people feel isolated from friends, family, and community, opioid use has become a coping...

In this blog post, Andy White highlights the role Xanax plays in silencing political dissent and keeping the public complacent. Instead of expressing anger...

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'...

From STAT: Proove Biosciences, which sold dubious DNA tests to predict opioid addiction risk, has been placed into court-ordered receivership for restructuring and asset sale. Experts...

US news coverage has primarily framed the opioid drug abuse epidemic as a criminal justice issue rather than a public health problem, according to new research published ahead of print in the Journal of Psychiatric Services. The media’s framing of the epidemic may increase stigma against those who develop a dependency on prescription drugs and distract political attention from public-health oriented solutions, such as increased access to substance abuse recovery treatments.

A new study finds that individuals being treated with open-label placebos showed significant reductions in pain and disability, even when compared to individuals receiving treatment as usual.

Contrary to widely-held belief, a new rigorous trial finds that ketamine is ineffective for delirium and pain associated with surgery, and the drug carries harmful side effects.

Research examines the effects of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) on experiences of chronic pain among low-income patients.

From The New York Times: For decades, America has waged an ineffective war on illicit drug dealers and drug lords. However, we have failed to...

From Scientific American: In a day and age when people are increasingly becoming addicted to prescription drugs, and increasingly helped by the therapeutic effects of illicit...

A new study examines the extent to which patterns in prescription drug misuse and substance use disorder symptoms can be predicted by education level

In this piece for Esquire, Christopher Glazek profiles the Sacklers, the family that owns the pharmaceutical company that manufactures OxyContin. He investigates how the Sacklers' marketing...