The alarming statistics on prescription opioid overdoses are well known to medical professionals, thanks to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s widely cited finding that deaths from opioid analgesics have increased fourfold since 1999.1 Half of all fatal drug overdoses now involve opioids prescribed by a doctor. Meanwhile, a lack of rigorous research…
A recent small-scale study examined the efficacy of pregabalin in the treatment of neuropathic pain caused by sciatica, as well as its associated low back pain. Researchers found the treatment did not reduce leg pain better than placebo and resulted in more adverse events…
A new formulation of oxycodone in 10 and 15 mg doses is being reviewed by the FDA for treating pain…
NKTR-181, a mu-opioid agonist analgesic, has proved safe and effective for treating chronic low back pain vs. placebo in a recent clinical trial…
(Reuters Health)—The risk that surgery patients will become chronic opioid users may be similar after minor procedures or major operations, a U.S. study suggests. Three to six months after surgery, new chronic opioid use was about 5.9% with minor operations and 6.5% with major surgery, the study found. The rate was just 0.4% in people…
In March, an FDA advisory committee voted that the risks of Opana ER to public health outweigh its benefits as a chronic pain treatment…
(Reuters Health)—In states that legalized medical marijuana, U.S. hospitals failed to see a predicted influx of pot smokers, but in an unexpected twist, they treated far fewer opioid users, a new study shows. Hospitalization rates for opioid painkiller dependence and abuse dropped on average 23% in states after marijuana was permitted for medicinal purposes, the…
(Reuters Health)—State programs that require physicians to check drug registries before writing prescriptions appeared to slash the odds of doctor-shopping for opioid pain relievers, a new study found. “Our study shows that prescription-drug monitoring programs are a promising component of a multifaceted strategy to address the opioid epidemic,” Ryan Mutter, one of the study authors,…
EULAR has updated its recommendations for the management of early arthritis, outlining aspects of diagnosis and drug treatments…
The makers of FX006, a steroid injection for treating pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis, have submitted a new drug application to the FDA…