http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. The rate of drug overdose from prescription opioids increased seven-fold in New York City over a 16-year period and was concentrated especially among white residents of the city, according to latest research at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. The study is one of the earliest and most comprehensive analyses of how the opioid epidemic has affected an urban area. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-prescription-overdose-epidemic-nyc.html Medications Sun, 03 Feb 2013 07:38:22 EST news279099113 Low testosterone levels occur five times more often among men who take long-acting instead of short-acting opioids for chronic pain, according to a new Kaiser Permanente study published in The Clinical Journal of Pain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-men-long-acting-chronic-pain-meds.html Medications Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:21:57 EST news278871590 Federal health advisors want new restrictions on hydrocodone, the highly addictive ingredient found in Vicodin and other widely abused prescription painkillers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-fda-panel-limits-hydrocodone-painkillers.html Medications Fri, 25 Jan 2013 16:51:24 EST news278355073 Drivers who have taken even a small dose of opioid painkillers have an increased risk of being injured in a car accident, a new study has found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-small-doses-opioids-road.html Medications Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:30:12 EST news277493342 (HealthDay)—For patients with one of five common cancers, 43.6 percent receive at least one prescription of opioids in the last three months of life, according to a study published in the Dec. 10 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-percent-cancer-patients-opioids-life.html Medications Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:40:01 EST news274633899 (AP)—U.S. government health experts overwhelmingly voted against a stronger version of hydrocodone on Friday, questioning the need for a new form of one of most widely abused prescription painkillers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-panel-opposes-pure-hydrocodone-painkiller.html Medications Sun, 09 Dec 2012 04:00:01 EST news274244638 (Medical Xpress)—Methamphetamine users' use of synthetic cannabis products (such as Kronic) increased from ten per cent in 2010 to 41 per cent in 2011 an annual report on illegal drug use shows. Many of these synthetic cannabis products have subsequently been banned; they have contributed to an increase in new synthetic drug use, often in the form of 'legal highs', over the past three years. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-illegal-drug-users-synthetic-drugs.html Addiction Thu, 18 Oct 2012 08:23:38 EST news269767409 A new study by the University of Colorado Denver reveals that today's adolescents are abusing prescription pain medications like vicodin, valium and oxycontin at a rate 40 percent higher than previous generations. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-young-people-epidemic-prescription-drug.html Medications Tue, 16 Oct 2012 10:30:07 EST news269602194 (HealthDay)—Children and adolescents given intravenously (IV)-administered acetaminophen after major spine surgery have significantly less postoperative pain, compared with those given placebo, but administration of acetaminophen does not reduce the need for opioids, according to a study published in the Sept. 15 issue of Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-iv-acetaminophen-eases-post-spinal-op.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sun, 23 Sep 2012 15:02:35 EST news267631342 A Rhode Island Hospital researcher has found that the use of electronic prescription drug monitoring programs (PMPs) may have a significant impact on the demand for drug treatment programs and how prescribers detect and respond to abuse of painkillers. The study by Traci C. Green, Ph.D., MSc, research scientist in Rhode Island Hospital's department of general internal medicine, is published online in advance of print in the journal Pain Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-pmp-demand-drug-treatment-painkiller.html Medications Thu, 16 Aug 2012 10:50:02 EST news264332018 A change in the formula of the frequently abused prescription painkiller OxyContin has many abusers switching to a drug that is potentially more dangerous, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-oxycontin-formula-abusers-heroin.html Medications Wed, 11 Jul 2012 17:00:11 EST news261242628 (HealthDay) -- As part of its efforts to curb the abuse of narcotic painkillers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is requiring drug makers to educate doctors about the risks of long-acting and extended-release forms of the drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-dangers-long-acting-pain-meds-fda.html Medications Mon, 09 Jul 2012 17:44:05 EST news261074633 Genetics play a significant role in determining which patients will suffer the most from the disturbing side effects of opiates, commonly prescribed painkillers for severe to moderate pain, according to a new Stanford University School of Medicine study, which pinpoints nausea, slowed breathing and potential for addiction as heritable traits. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-opiates-side-effects-rooted-patients.html Medical research Wed, 20 Jun 2012 08:46:31 EST news259400592 (AP) -- Sales of the nation's two most popular prescription painkillers have exploded in new parts of the country, an Associated Press analysis shows, worrying experts who say the push to relieve patients' suffering is spawning an addiction epidemic. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-painkiller-sales-soar-fuel-addiction.html Medications Thu, 05 Apr 2012 04:06:41 EST news252817592 Prescribing opioids for pain to older patients within seven days of short-stay surgery appears to be associated with long-term analgesic use compared to those patients who did not receive prescriptions for analgesics after surgery, according to a study published in the March 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-opioids-pain-short-stay-surgery-long-term.html Medications Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:00:08 EST news250779581 (AP) -- The doctor passed out prescriptions for drugs like Xanax and OxyContin, Vicodin and Adderall at a rate of 25 per day for three years, with only cursory patient examinations and a minimum of questions, authorities said. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-calif-doc-prescriptions.html Other Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:38:56 EST news249899920 The number of oxycodone pills sold by Florida doctors dropped dramatically in 2011, following a series of high-profile arrests and a legislative crackdown on the storefront "pill mills" that made South Florida the hub of a nationwide black market in prescription painkillers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-sales-oxycodone-doctors-fall-florida.html Medications Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:20:01 EST news247399795 Drug companies are working to develop a pure, more powerful version of the nation's second most-abused medicine, which has addiction experts worried that it could spur a new wave of abuse. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-powerful-painkiller-abuse-experts.html Medications Mon, 26 Dec 2011 17:16:40 EST news244142182 A new analysis of teenage drug abuse finds widespread problems among whites, Native Americans, Hispanics and youngsters of multiple races, with less severe abuse among Asian and African-American teens. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-white-hispanic-teens-abuse-drugs.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:00:09 EST news239897353 Doctors have been prescribing codeine for postpartum pain management for many years, and, until recently, it was considered safe to breastfeed while taking the opioid. But the death of an infant exposed to codeine through breast milk has many health care providers questioning the safety of the drug when used by breastfeeding mothers. Because of the potential risks, some doctors have begun the practice of prescribing oxycodone as an alternative to codeine; however, a new study soon to be published in The Journal of Pediatrics finds that oxycodone is no safer for breastfed infants than codeine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-mother-postpartum-oxycodone-safer-breastfed.html Health Tue, 06 Sep 2011 12:13:01 EST news234529962 (Medical Xpress) -- A new study by Yale School of Medicine reveals that nearly one third of those who use opioids for non-medical reasons obtain these drugs directly from physicians, but the majority get them from friends or family members. The study, which used data from the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health, appears online in the Archives of Internal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-friends-family-enable-opioid-abusers.html Health Wed, 15 Jun 2011 05:50:48 EST news227335745