If you have a health condition that makes you suffer from severe pain, your doctor may give you a prescription opioid to help relieve that pain. When used correctly and as prescribed by your doctor, opioids are safe. However, all prescription opioids share a huge potential for abuse. When used incorrectly, opioid use can have […]
Addiction is described as a disease by several medical associations including the American Medical Association. According to them, “Like diabetes and cancer, addiction os caused by behavioral, environmental, and genetic factors.” There may be different types of substance abuse, but opioid addiction is unlike any other. The truth? Opioid use can lead to physical dependence […]
Opioids or opiates are drugs that are prescribed to treat pain. Prescription opioids include oxycontin (oxycodone), vicodin (hydrocodone and acetaminophen), dilaudid (hydromorphone), and morphine. Opioids can also include opiates like codeine, heroin, morphine, and opium. And although they are very effective in the treatment of several forms of acute and chronic pain in patients, they […]
U.S. counties where cannabis is legal had lower numbers of opioid-related deaths from 2014 to 2018, according to a recent study published in The BMJ. In the last year of the study, 48,602 Americans died due to an opioid overdose. Two-thirds of these deaths were caused by synthetic opioids like fentanyl, the Centers for Disease […]
The Medicare Part D program pays far more for medications than any other government health program, a report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) revealed. The analysis, commissioned by Senate Budget Committee Chair, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), found that on average, Medicare Part D pays far more for brand-name drugs as compared to Medicaid. A […]
Four companies that agreed to pay $26 billion in giant settlements for their role in the opioid epidemic are now planning to claim up to billions of dollars in tax refund. Blockbuster Settlements In the past few months, when details of the giant settlements to be made were still on the works, pharma giant Johnson […]
A multimodal pain regimen (MMPR) designed to lessen opioid exposure and control acute pain linked to traumatic injury significantly lowered patients’ self-reported pain scores while also reducing the total amount of opioid medications given to trauma patients. The study was the first to evaluate an MMPR in a randomized controlled trial. The results were published […]
For decades now, the widespread misuse of both prescription and non-prescription opioids has brought devastating consequences. Opioid overdose accounted for more than 42,000 deaths in 2016, more than any previous year on record. And now, with the current COVID situation in America, more than 19,000 people have already died of a drug overdose during […]
The previous year has been deemed as the deadliest year in American history because of COVID-19. But aside from that, it was also a dangerous year for substance abuse. The U.S. has been fighting the consequences of the opioid crisis even before 2020, with many states suffering losses due to drugs like fentanyl, heroin, and […]
As local governments decide on how to spend funds from settlements with opioid makers, a coalition of health societies and advocacy groups calls for public officials to dedicate the proceeds to a program that will help people with substance use disorders, instead of using the money for their budgets. Proceeds from the Lawsuits The suggestion […]