Emergency department (ED) visits for suspected opioid overdoses increased 35 percent across 16 states from July 2016 to September 2017, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In total, the CDC found more than 140,0000 suspected opioid overdose
In its budget proposal for 2019, the Trump administration has requested approximately $17 billion dollars to address the opioid epidemic. In general, the proposal allocates funding for new opioid-related resources for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), expands Medicaid reimbursement to include medication-assisted
Citing safety concerns about opioid exposure in children, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has mandated new labeling requirements for prescription cough and cold medicines that contain codeine or hydrocodone, limiting their indicated use to adults 18 years and older. The FDA is requiring
Borrowing a classic pharmaceutical sales technique, a group of doctors and pharmacists in California are catching medical providers between patients to talk about opioid prescribing habits, reports the Washington Post. This practice, known as “academic detailing,” a play on the pharma industry’s “pharmaceutical detailing,” is
The total economic cost of the opioid epidemic could be as high as $504 billion in 2015 alone, or about 2.8 percent of the national gross domestic product, according to a study just released by the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA). This figure
A new study shows that almost two-thirds of individuals who died from an opioid overdose had a diagnosed chronic pain condition and about one-third had dual diagnoses of chronic pain and a mental illness. Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center reviewed over 13,000 opioid-related deaths
Why do some people require high dosages of opioids to manage their pain, while others only need low dosages, or even cope without? The answer depends on the person’s metabolism and the cause of the pain. A very small number of people have a rare
Prescribers of opioid medication are feeling the pressure as the nation debates ways to address the opioid epidemic. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published a guideline for opioid prescribing practices in March 2016 to provide specific recommendations for the treatment of chronic pain, and
Last week House Republicans proposed eliminating the current deduction for medical expenses not compensated by insurance. The criteria for this deduction have varied widely since it was adopted in 1942, but so far it has always survived the chopping block. The IRS reports that approximately
The presidential opioid commission today released its final report on ways to combat opioid overdoses and drug addiction across the United States. Noting that 175 people currently die of drug overdoses in the U.S. every day, the commission urged immediate federal action to change the
On Saturday, Oct 28, 2017, the Drug Enforcement Agency is holding its next prescription drug take-back day, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The goal of take-back programs is to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted
In its continuing battle against the opioid epidemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has launched a new communication campaign to educate the public on the dangers of prescription opioids to prevent misuse and abuse. Using the slogan, “It only takes a little