US agency softens opioid prescribing guidelines for doctors
2 years, 4 months ago

US agency softens opioid prescribing guidelines for doctors

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday softened its guidelines for U.S. doctors prescribing oxycodone and other opioid painkillers. Opioids painkillers can be addictive — even when used under doctors’ orders — and were identified as a big reason for a rise in U.S. drug overdoses that began more than two decades ago. Some modifications were made, but several main changes stayed in place, including: —The CDC no longer suggests trying to limit opioid treatment for acute pain to three days. —For patients receiving higher doses of opioids, the CDC is urging doctors to not abruptly halt treatment unless there are indications of a life-threatening danger.

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History of this topic

Opinion: Surgeons give patients too many opioids. A few simple steps could curb excess prescribing
9 months, 1 week ago

Opinion: Surgeons give patients too many opioids. A few simple steps could curb excess prescribing

LA Times  

America’s opioid epidemic is as bad as it has ever been. Some efforts to curb opioid prescribing have shown promise, including prescription drug monitoring programs, promotion of alternative analgesics, provider education and informing prescribing physicians when their patients die from opioid overdoses. Conventional strategies for curbing excessive opioid prescribing assume that surgeons are rational actors who, whenever they are informed …

Chronic pain patients struggle to get opioid prescriptions filled, even as CDC eases guidelines
2 years ago

Chronic pain patients struggle to get opioid prescriptions filled, even as CDC eases guidelines

CNN  

KHN — Jessica Layman estimates she has called more than 150 doctors in the past few years in her search for someone to prescribe opioids for her chronic pain. The first CDC guidelines “put everybody on notice,” said Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, chair of the American Medical Association’s Substance Use and Pain Care Task Force. Taking into account the perspective of …

Op-Ed: Finally, some promising news on opioids for patients in severe pain
2 years, 3 months ago

Op-Ed: Finally, some promising news on opioids for patients in severe pain

LA Times  

The U.S. remains in the midst of an ever-worsening drug overdose crisis. Meanwhile, physicians have had to balance the risk of criminal prosecution for prescribing opioids against their responsibility to treat patients’ pain. While some doctors were financially incentivized to overprescribe opioids, others caught scrutiny simply for providing relief to patients in debilitating pain. Tragically, recent studies found that chronic …

CDC updates opioid prescribing guidelines with new recommendations on tapering or continuing prescriptions
2 years, 4 months ago

CDC updates opioid prescribing guidelines with new recommendations on tapering or continuing prescriptions

CNN  

CNN — For the first time since 2016, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its guidelines for clinicians and patients on the use of prescription opioids to treat short-term and long-term pain. Advice for doctors and patients The guidelines recommend that when starting opioid therapy for any pain patient – acute, subacute or chronic – “clinicians …

CDC softens opioid prescribing guidelines for doctors
2 years, 4 months ago

CDC softens opioid prescribing guidelines for doctors

LA Times  

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its guidelines for U.S. doctors prescribing oxycodone, above, and other opioid painkillers. The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday softened its guidelines for U.S. doctors prescribing oxycodone and other opioid painkillers. Opioid painkillers can be addictive — even when used under doctors’ orders — and were identified as a big reason …

Experts concerned about last year's sudden increase in opioid use
2 years, 9 months ago

Experts concerned about last year's sudden increase in opioid use

NL Times  

Last year, use of the heavy painkiller oxycodone increased sharply after years of decline. Loneliness from the coronavirus pandemic could also play a role in the sustained use of the painkillers, since they can also make people experiencing trauma feel better temporarily, said Kees Kramers, internist-clinical pharmacologist at Radboudumc and professor of Medicine Safety. The Appropriate Use of Opioids task …

CDC proposes softer guidance on opioid prescriptions
3 years, 1 month ago

CDC proposes softer guidance on opioid prescriptions

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday proposed changing — and in some instances, softening — guidelines for U.S. doctors prescribing oxycodone and other opioid painkillers. But it also caused some doctors to become too quick to cut off patients taking prescription painkillers and too strict in keeping the drugs from patients who might benefit, CDC …

US lifts barriers to prescribing addiction treatment drug
3 years, 11 months ago

US lifts barriers to prescribing addiction treatment drug

Associated Press  

The Biden administration is easing decades-old requirements that made it difficult for doctors to treat opioid addiction using medication. New guidelines announced Tuesday mean doctors and other health workers will no longer need extra hours of training to prescribe buprenorphine, a gold standard medicine that helps with cravings. Besides doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, certified nurse midwives and some other …

US eases prescription requirements for opioid treatment
3 years, 11 months ago

US eases prescription requirements for opioid treatment

Al Jazeera  

The US Department of Health and Human Services has announced new rules easing the prescription of a medication that helps those suffering from opioid addiction. The guidelines announced on Tuesday mean doctors and other health workers will no longer need extra hours of training to prescribe buprenorphine, a gold standard medicine that helps with cravings. Acting Director of the Office …

Over-the-counter codeine could be banned as fears of UK opioid addiction crisis grow
4 years, 7 months ago

Over-the-counter codeine could be banned as fears of UK opioid addiction crisis grow

The Telegraph  

Over-the-counter codeine could be banned amid fears of an opioid addiction crisis, a health watchdog has revealed. The possible move would form part of a mounting crackdown on the inappropriate use of painkillers following a report last year that indicated Britain is sliding towards a US-style opioid crisis. The first official mapping of dependence on heavy painkillers – described by …

How the prescriptions doctors wrote may have helped fuel the U.S. opioid crisis
5 years, 6 months ago

How the prescriptions doctors wrote may have helped fuel the U.S. opioid crisis

LA Times  

More than 75% of patients in the U.S. and Canada filled a prescription for opioids following one of four common surgeries, compared with 11% of Swedes, a new study reports. More than 75% of patients in the U.S. and Canada filled a prescription for opioids following one of four common surgeries, compared with 11% of Swedes, researchers reported Wednesday in …

Revamped OxyContin was supposed to reduce abuse, but has it?
5 years, 8 months ago

Revamped OxyContin was supposed to reduce abuse, but has it?

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Dr. Raeford Brown was uniquely positioned to help the U.S. government answer a critical question: Is a new version of the painkiller OxyContin helping fight the national opioid epidemic? Nearly a decade ago, the FDA approved reformulated OxyContin and told the company, Purdue Pharma, that it would be evaluated on whether the new version decreased cases of addiction, …

Kirsten Gillibrand Faces Opioid Bill Backlash From Disability Community
6 years ago

Kirsten Gillibrand Faces Opioid Bill Backlash From Disability Community

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING Following backlash from patients with chronic pain and people in the disability community, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Wednesday found herself backpedaling on her recently introduced legislation to put a time limit on opioid prescriptions. While the legislation’s text hasn’t been submitted to Congress’ website yet, Gillibrand’s news release specified that the prescription limit was not meant for …

Op-Ed: Want to reduce opioid use? Nudge the doctors who prescribe them
6 years, 2 months ago

Op-Ed: Want to reduce opioid use? Nudge the doctors who prescribe them

LA Times  

An Orange County doctor was arrested by federal authorities in December on suspicion of illegally prescribing narcotics, “flooding Southern California with huge quantities of opioids,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. For the record: This Op-Ed article wrongly identifies the affiliation of the researchers who found that doctors prescribe fewer opioids if they are notified of patient deaths from overdose. …

Opioids offer little chronic pain benefit and wane over time, study says
6 years, 3 months ago

Opioids offer little chronic pain benefit and wane over time, study says

CNN  

CNN — For adults with chronic pain, opioids offer narrow improvements over a placebo for pain and physical functioning, on average, according to a new analysis published Tuesday. “The benefits of opioids for managing chronic pain tend to be quite modest,” said study author Jason Busse, associate professor in the department of anesthesia at McMaster University’s school of medicine in …

Dentist group puts teeth in push to curb opioid painkillers
7 years ago

Dentist group puts teeth in push to curb opioid painkillers

Associated Press  

CHICAGO — The American Dental Association wants dentists to drastically cut back on prescribing opioid painkillers. The association announced a new policy Monday that “essentially says eliminate opioids from your arsenal if at all possible,” said Dr. Joseph Crowley, the group’s president. Dentists write fewer than 7 percent of U.S. opioid prescriptions, but new research shows that practice has increased …

Doctors In Maine Say Halt In OxyContin Marketing Comes '20 Years Late'
7 years, 1 month ago

Doctors In Maine Say Halt In OxyContin Marketing Comes '20 Years Late'

NPR  

Doctors In Maine Say Halt In OxyContin Marketing Comes '20 Years Late' Enlarge this image toggle caption George Frey/Bloomberg via Getty Images George Frey/Bloomberg via Getty Images The maker of OxyContin, one of the most prescribed and aggressively marketed opioid painkillers, will no longer tout the drug or any other opioids to doctors. The announcement, made Saturday, came as drugmaker …

Questioning A Doctor's Prescription For A Sore Knee: 90 Percocets
7 years, 4 months ago

Questioning A Doctor's Prescription For A Sore Knee: 90 Percocets

NPR  

Questioning A Doctor's Prescription For A Sore Knee: 90 Percocets Enlarge this image toggle caption Education Images/UIG via Getty Images Education Images/UIG via Getty Images I recently hobbled to the drugstore to pick up painkillers after minor outpatient knee surgery, only to discover that the pharmacist hadn't yet filled the prescription. Post-surgical prescriptions for 45, 60 or 90 pills are …

Op-Ed: The opioid crackdown is making life untenable for chronic pain patients like me
7 years, 5 months ago

Op-Ed: The opioid crackdown is making life untenable for chronic pain patients like me

LA Times  

President Trump recently said that he intends to declare the opioid crisis a national emergency. The rate of misuse is much lower among patients who are prescribed opioid medication for chronic pain — 21% to 29%, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. An even smaller percentage of chronic pain patients develop a disorder — between 8% and 12%. …

A guide to prescribing painkillers ethically
7 years, 6 months ago

A guide to prescribing painkillers ethically

Daily Mail  

America's opioid crisis is getting worse. As a bioethicist working on the ethical and policy issues regarding prescription opioids, I am grateful to the National Academy of Medicine for inviting me to serve on this publication's authorship team, and for taking seriously the ethical component of the prescription opioid crisis. A National Academy of Medicine researcher has written a guide …

Groups seek ban on high-dose opioids citing overdose danger
7 years, 6 months ago

Groups seek ban on high-dose opioids citing overdose danger

Associated Press  

CHICAGO — Safety advocates and state health officials are formally calling on the Food and Drug Administration to ban high-dose opioid painkillers to prevent accidental overdose deaths among patients and people who abuse drugs. A petition filed Thursday asks the FDA to ban opioid pills that, when taken as directed, would add up to a daily dose of more than …

Intent On Reversing Its Opioid Epidemic, A State Limits Prescriptions
7 years, 7 months ago

Intent On Reversing Its Opioid Epidemic, A State Limits Prescriptions

NPR  

Intent On Reversing Its Opioid Epidemic, A State Limits Prescriptions Enlarge this image toggle caption Fanatic Studio/Getty Images Fanatic Studio/Getty Images A year ago, Maine was one of the first states to set limits on opioid prescriptions. Medd had already started to taper high doses among patients like Hodgdon before Maine put a cap on new prescriptions for opioids last …

Cutting down on opioids has made life miserable for chronic pain patients.
7 years, 7 months ago

Cutting down on opioids has made life miserable for chronic pain patients.

Slate  

On July 26, Todd Graham, 56, a well-respected rehabilitation specialist in Mishawaka, Indiana, lost his life. My doctor decided that she did not want to treat me anymore, didn’t give me a last prescription, and didn’t wait until I found another pain doctor who would help me.” For the past 30 years, Dr. R has been an advocate for better …

Doctors increasingly face charges for patient overdoses
7 years, 7 months ago

Doctors increasingly face charges for patient overdoses

CNN  

Story highlights Between 2011 and 2016, the number of doctors punished by the DEA jumped more than five times One challenge is whether and how to wean some patients off long-term opioids for chronic pain CNN — Doctors are increasingly being held accountable – some even facing murder charges – when their patients overdose on opioid painkillers they prescribed. “The …

FDA takes new steps to curb opioid abuse
7 years, 8 months ago

FDA takes new steps to curb opioid abuse

CNN  

Story highlights Makers of immediate-release products will have to provide prescriber training However, there is no mandate on physicians to take it FDA commissioner: "America is simply awash in immediate-release opioid products" CNN — To help curb the nation’s opioid overdose epidemic, US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced, the agency will expand its requirements for prescription opioid …

Opioid prescriptions dropped but remain high, CDC says
7 years, 8 months ago

Opioid prescriptions dropped but remain high, CDC says

CNN  

Story highlights Counties with the highest prescribing rates had six times more than others CDC director: "Improvements in prescribing are just the beginning" CNN — Opioids continue to be prescribed at high rates, a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds, even as drug overdoses remain the leading cause of accidental death in the country, …

Opioid Prescriptions Falling But Remain Too High, CDC Says
7 years, 8 months ago

Opioid Prescriptions Falling But Remain Too High, CDC Says

NPR  

Opioid Prescriptions Falling But Remain Too High, CDC Says Enlarge this image toggle caption Donald Gruener/iStockphoto/Getty Images Donald Gruener/iStockphoto/Getty Images The U.S. is in the midst of an opioid crisis. A new report out Thursday offers a bit of hope: Doctors are prescribing opioids less often, and the average dose they're giving patients has dropped, according to the Centers for …

Prescriptions may hold clues to who gets hooked on opioids
8 years ago

Prescriptions may hold clues to who gets hooked on opioids

CNN  

Story highlights Using a narcotic for 8 days or more increases the likelihood that you will keep using it, a study says Long-acting painkillers were more likely to lead to chronic use, the CDC study says CNN — The duration of a prescription may give clues into how long a person ends up using a narcotic painkiller, a new study …

Painkiller prescription limits dramatically reduce drug dependence among surgery outpatients, study finds
8 years ago

Painkiller prescription limits dramatically reduce drug dependence among surgery outpatients, study finds

The Independent  

Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. …

Doctors’ opioid prescriptions vary widely, study says
8 years, 1 month ago

Doctors’ opioid prescriptions vary widely, study says

CNN  

Story highlights Within the same hospital, some doctors are three times more likely to prescribe an opioid Patients treated by high-prescribing doctors are more likely to become long-term users Which doctor a person happens to see at a local emergency room can have long-term consequences when it comes to opioid use. Within the same hospital, some doctors are three times …

Drugmakers fought domino effect of Washington opioid limits
8 years, 6 months ago

Drugmakers fought domino effect of Washington opioid limits

Associated Press  

When Washington state made one of the first major moves to place limits on opioid painkiller prescriptions, pharmaceutical companies fought back — using the Pain Care Forum, a national network of drug companies and opioid-friendly nonprofits, many of them funded by drugmakers. Alarm bells rang at the forum in 2007 after Washington state’s agency medical directors — spurred by overdose …

Obama Administration Eases Restrictions On Doctors Who Treat Opioid Addiction
8 years, 8 months ago

Obama Administration Eases Restrictions On Doctors Who Treat Opioid Addiction

NPR  

Obama Administration Eases Restrictions On Doctors Who Treat Opioid Addiction Enlarge this image toggle caption Jamie Grill/Getty Images Jamie Grill/Getty Images The Obama administration is making it easier for people addicted to opioids to get treatment. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell announced new rules Wednesday to loosen restrictions on doctors who treat people addicted to heroin and opioid …

Opioid history: From ‘wonder drug’ to abuse epidemic
8 years, 10 months ago

Opioid history: From ‘wonder drug’ to abuse epidemic

CNN  

Does race impact the way we treat heroin addiction? Lisa Ling asks that question on “This Is Life” Sunday, October 16 at 10 p.m. Story highlights There's a long history of opioid addiction in the United States The FDA and CDC have started taking steps to address the opioid abuse epidemic CNN — The abuse of opioids, including prescription painkillers …

CDC guidelines aim to curb painkiller prescribing
9 years ago

CDC guidelines aim to curb painkiller prescribing

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Prescription painkillers should not be a first choice for treating common ailments like back pain and arthritis, according to new federal guidelines designed to reshape how doctors prescribe drugs like OxyContin and Vicodin. “We’re trying to chart a safer and more effective course for dealing with chronic pain,” Dr. Tom Frieden, the CDC’s director, said in an interview …

Opioids are bad medicine for chronic pain, say new federal guidelines
9 years ago

Opioids are bad medicine for chronic pain, say new federal guidelines

LA Times  

Federal health officials speaking in unusually blunt terms Tuesday called on the American medical community to turn away from treating common ailments with highly addictive painkillers, saying the nation’s prescription drug epidemic was a “doctor-driven” crisis. About 250 million painkiller prescriptions were written in 2013, enough, the agency noted, “for every American adult to have a bottle of pills.” In …

Oxycodone: The factors behind Australians' increasing use of 'hillbilly heroin'
10 years, 11 months ago

Oxycodone: The factors behind Australians' increasing use of 'hillbilly heroin'

ABC  

Over the past 10 years, the number of prescriptions for pharmaceutical opioids in Australia has soared, and prescriptions for one drug in particular, oxycodone, have shown a significant increase. It is thought the sharp increase in oxycodone prescriptions may be due to the growing demand for the drug from three core over-lapping groups: patients with cancer pain; patients with chronic …

FDA Ratchets Down On Prescribing Of OxyContin And Other Opioids
11 years, 6 months ago

FDA Ratchets Down On Prescribing Of OxyContin And Other Opioids

NPR  

FDA Ratchets Down On Prescribing Of OxyContin And Other Opioids toggle caption Toby Talbot/Associated Press The Food and Drug Administration today took another step toward restricting use of OxyContin and other powerful and often-abused prescription pain medications. "The FDA is invoking its authority to require safety labeling changes and post-market studies to combat the crisis of misuse, abuse, addiction, overdose …

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