opioid

Physical therapy as well as cognitive therapy are part of a promising approach to managing chronic pain without drugs.

Holistic Therapy Programs May Help Pain Sufferers Ditch Opioids

11:11am August 29, 2017

by Michelle Andrews

Learning strategies to deal with chronic pain can be an effective way to stay off addictive medicines, says the head of the Mayo Clinic's pain rehab center. But insurance doesn't always cover it.

Across the state of Maine, the number of prescriptions for painkillers is dropping. But some patients who have chronic pain say they need high doses of the medication to be able to function.

Intent On Reversing Its Opioid Epidemic, A State Limits Prescriptions

9:34am August 23, 2017

by Patty Wight

Maine is among a handful of states putting limits on the painkiller dose that doctors can prescribe a patient. Some doctors and patients say the law is helping, while others say it goes too far.

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Hospital emergency departments are tasked with saving the lives of people who overdose on opioids. Clinicians and researchers hope that more can be done during the hospital encounter to connect people with treatment.

Hospitals Could Do More For Survivors Of Opioid Overdoses, Study Suggests

2:15pm August 22, 2017

by Andrea Hsu

Researchers say hospitals are missing an opportunity to help people with opioid addiction get into treatment by not doing enough when they show up in emergency rooms after an overdose.

After a briefing on the opioid crisis with Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, President Trump remarked on the severity of the epidemic but did not declare a national emergency, as his commission on opioids had recommended.

Some States Say Declaring An Emergency Has Helped In The Opioid Fight

3:37pm August 09, 2017

by Andrea Hsu

Arizona is among the states that have declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency, to help with funding and access to data. It's a move the Trump administration has declined to make.

First responders in Washington, D.C., bring naloxone on every emergency call.

First Responders Spending More On Overdose Reversal Drug

5:30pm August 08, 2017

by Alison Kodjak

With price hikes and rising demand, the drug naloxone, which can reverse an opioid overdose, is taking up an ever-larger share of emergency department budgets.

Judge Lewis Gregory, head of the city court in Greenwood, Ind., began allowing drug court participants to begin taking Vivitrol after meeting with an Alkermes sales representative.

To Grow Market Share, A Drugmaker Pitches Its Product To Judges

4:51pm August 03, 2017

by Jake Harper

The pharmaceutical company Alkermes is trying to increase the number of people taking Vivitrol for their opioid addiction by marketing the drug to judges, who have the power to influence treatment.

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The morphine-like pain killer Oxycontin is just one of a number of opioids fueling a substance use crisis in the U.S. federal health officials say. And successful treatment for the substance use disorder can be costly.

Opioid Treatment Funds In Senate Bill Would Fall Far Short Of Needs

10:13am July 20, 2017

by Ben Allen

A Senate proposal to repeal Obamacare includes $45 billion to treat opioid addiction. But it wouldn't make up for deep cuts to Medicaid in that same bill that has funded much of that treatment.

Education

For Foundation Leader, North Carolina 'Listening Tour' Brings Surprises And Concerns

7:31pm June 27, 2017

by Keri Brown

It's been a little over a year since Maurice “Mo” Green took the helm at the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.

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Charlene Yurgaitis gets health insurance through Medicaid in Pennsylvania. It covers the counseling and medication she and her doctors say she needs to recover from her opioid addiction.

GOP's Proposed Cuts To Medicaid Threaten Treatment For Opioid Addiction

8:26am June 11, 2017

by Ben Allen

Expanding Medicaid has helped many people caught up in the opioid epidemic get treatment. But doctors say the proposed Republican changes to the Affordable Care Act could jeopardize these programs.

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Opana ER, a potent extended-release opioid, was approved by the FDA for pain management in 2006. But the agency says Endo's attempts to reformulate the pills to make them harder to crush, dissolve and inject have not been successful.

FDA Calls On Drugmaker To Pull A Powerful Opioid Off The Market

8:56pm June 08, 2017

by Rob Stein

The Food and Drug Administration says abuse of the painkiller Opana ER has fueled an outbreak of HIV, hepatitis C and a serious blood disorder, though it was reformulated to try to reduce abuse.