Medications

How Purdue Pharma helped spark the opioid epidemic

What do conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, singer Courtney Love and deceased actor Heath Ledger all have in common? The answer, according to published reports, is that all battled addiction to OxyContin, an opioid ...

Obstetrics & gynaecology

Some painkillers tied to certain birth defects in study

(HealthDay)—Women taking prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin, Vicodin and Percocet early in pregnancy are twice as likely to give birth to babies with devastating neural tube defects such as spina bifida, a new study ...

Addiction

Study: Marijuana top illegal drug used worldwide

Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug used worldwide, but addictions to popular painkillers like Vicodin, Oxycontin and codeine kill the most people, according to the first-ever global survey of illicit drug abuse.

Medications

Drug addicts, dealers are 'Doctor shopping' for pain pills

(HealthDay)—One of every 50 prescriptions for addictive prescription painkillers in the United States is filled for so-called "doctor shoppers" who obtain the drugs for recreational use or resale on the street, a new study ...

Medications

Fearing abuse, US blocks generic OxyContin (Update)

U.S. health regulators will require generic versions of the best-selling painkiller OxyContin to include recent formulation changes designed to make the pill harder to abuse.

Medications

Prescription overdose rate reaches epidemic levels in NYC

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 ...

Medications

FDA panel votes for tougher curbs on vicodin, other painkillers

(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 ...

Medications

FDA panel votes for tougher restrictions on hydrocodone

(HealthDay)—A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel met Thursday and Friday to discuss the fate of certain painkillers that contain the opioid known as hydrocodone, concluding in a vote in favor of moving hydrocodone ...

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