Opiates

A new poll, published in the Washington Post, explores the public’s connection to prescription pain killer abuse. “A surprising 56 percent of the public say...

From The Boston Globe: Conceptualizing addiction as a biological brain disease is often ineffective, as the biological model overlooks the important psychological and social factors that...

While plans to involuntary commit drug users have “received virtual across-the-board support,” Susan Sered from TruthOut reports that “there is little to no evidence showing that coerced drug treatment is effective,” and that “having abstained from opiates for several days may set them up to overdose when they return to their former level of drug use, with a reduced tolerance for the drugs.”

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 STAT: A new documentary, "The Painful Truth," chronicles the plight of several patients struggling to find treatment for their chronic pain, suggesting that physicians...

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...

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.

“A Los Angeles-area doctor was convicted of murder in a landmark case for killing three patients who overdosed on what a prosecutor called 'crazy,...

From STAT: Federal investigators recently searched Proove Biosciences, a genetic testing company that purports to determine an individual's likelihood of becoming addicted to opioids. Proove's genetic...

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...

From National Institutes of Health: NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins and NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow have co-authored a special report on a new public-private...

Prince was found dead one day before he was scheduled to meet with Dr. Howard Kornfeld, a national authority on opioid addiction treatment. Within...

NBC News reports that the FDA is taking action in an attempt to make opioid drugs, cousins to opium and heroin, a last-ditch option...

“In 2014, the number of people who died from drug overdoses in the United States reached 47,055 — an all-time high, according to a disturbing report published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),” but “the effort to get physicians to curb their prescribing of these drugs may be faltering amid stiff resistance from drugmakers, industry-funded groups and, now, even other public health officials.”

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.

From The Intercept: Newly released documents show that Dr. Scott Gottlieb, President Trump's nominee to lead the FDA, has received almost $45,000 in speaking fees...

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...

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

Researchers investigate trends in opioid use, prescriptions, misuse, and access reported by adolescents and young adults.

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...

From Scientific American: Increasing prescription rates of opioid painkillers are often blamed for America's current opioid crisis. However, a growing body of research suggests that...

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

As part of the Affordable Care Act, the federal government has made a commitment to integrate behavioral health with physical medicine. Physicians have saddled America with addiction to antidepressants, antipsychotics, and benzodiazpines. If the federal government decides that opiate addiction is ok, as they seem to have conceded, shouldn’t the question be “what is the cheapest and the safest opiate?” In Europe, heroin is an option right along with buprenorphine and methadone. It seems to me that the “back-door” legalization of opiates under the guise of “treatment” ought to at least be debated out in the open.

Nora Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), authored an editorial for BMJ this month warning that the opioid abuse epidemic could have dangerous consequences for pregnant women. While the effects of opioid exposure on the developing brain are yet unknown, research suggests that infants may suffer from withdrawal syndrome, nervous system defects, and impaired attachment with the mother.

“Health Commissioner Leana Wen will join other health directors across the country today in asking the federal government to require a ‘black box warning’...