http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Regularly taking prescription painkillers, also known as opioids, is associated with a higher risk of erectile dysfunction (ED) in men, according to a study published online today in the journal Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-long-term-prescription-painkillers-pain-linked.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 15 May 2013 11:31:17 EST news287836268 (Medical Xpress)—According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, enough prescription painkillers were prescribed in 2010 to medicate every American adult around the clock for a month. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-prescription-drug-aimed-curbing-painkiller.html Medications Wed, 17 Apr 2013 08:56:22 EST news285407776 A new national public opinion poll commissioned by Research!America shows only 18% of respondents believe chronic pain is a major health problem, even though a majority of Americans (63%) say they know someone who experienced pain so severe that they sought prescription medicines to treat it. Chronic pain conditions affect about 100 million U.S. adults at a cost of approximately $600 billion annually in direct medical treatment costs and lost productivity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-chronic-pain-drug-addiction-major.html Medications Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:27:57 EST news284725666 Despite efforts by law enforcement and public health officials to curb prescription drug abuse, drug-related deaths in the United States have continued to rise, the latest data show. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-deaths-tied-painkillers.html Medications Sun, 31 Mar 2013 14:10:02 EST news283956562 (HealthDay)—A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted Friday to place tougher restrictions on prescription painkillers containing hydrocodone, potentially moving medications such as Vicodin into the same class as narcotics such as Oxycontin and Percocet. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-fda-panel-votes-tougher-curbs.html Medications Sat, 26 Jan 2013 07:50:01 EST news278401640 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 (HealthDay)—A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel will meet Thursday and Friday to discuss the fate of certain painkillers that contain an opioid known as hydrocodone. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-fda-panel-tougher-restrictions-prescription.html Medications Thu, 24 Jan 2013 16:20:01 EST news278262973 (HealthDay)—Prescription painkillers are second only to marijuana when it comes to drug abuse, a new government report claims. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-prescription-painkillers-trail-marijuana-abuse.html Medications Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:20:01 EST news277044770 (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 Today's teens and young people are abusing prescription painkillers more than any other age group or any other youth in history.  Availability of these drugs from their parents' medicine cabinets may be to blame, according to new research in the Journal of Adolescent Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-teens-increasingly-abuse-prescription-painkillers.html Medications Fri, 19 Oct 2012 09:20:06 EST news269854385 Prescription painkillers are responsible for more fatal overdoses in the United States than heroin and cocaine combined. And while most states have programs to curb abuse and addiction, a new report from Brandeis University shows that many states do not fully analyze the data they collect. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-painkiller-overdoses-mount-outline-effective.html Medications Thu, 20 Sep 2012 15:03:27 EST news267372199 Opioid-dependent individuals who want to kick the habit typically begin the road to recovery with detoxification. But detox is ineffective as a stand-alone treatment, with relapse rates ranging from 65% to 80% just one month after discharge. New research published online today in the journal Addiction reveals that individuals with substance use disorders may be as much as ten times more likely to stay abstinent when they have access to drug-free recovery housing and day-treatment programs following detox. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-recovery-housing-treatment-relapse-recovering.html Addiction Tue, 28 Feb 2012 04:43:25 EST news249626579 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 Individuals addicted to prescription painkillers are more likely to succeed in treatment with the aid of the medication buprenorphine-naloxone (Suboxone), report McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School researchers in today's online edition of the Archives of General Psychiatry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-suboxone-effective-painkiller-addiction.html Medications Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:06:37 EST news239907981 The number of overdose deaths from powerful painkillers more than tripled over a decade, the government reported Tuesday - a trend that a U.S. health official called an epidemic, but one that can be stopped. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-deaths-painkiller-overdose-triple-decade.html Medications Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:46:52 EST news239370400