Percentage of overdose deaths involving methadone declined between January 2019 and August 2021
National data indicate COVID-era treatment expansion was not associated with harms (Source: NIDA News)
Source: NIDA News - July 13, 2022 Category: Addiction Tags: News Release Source Type: news
Fewer Than Half of U.S. Pharmacies Carry One of the Most Effective Drugs for Opioid Abuse
Today’s illicit drug supply is riskier than ever, experts say. It’s often contaminated by different dangerous substances—from the potent opioid fentanyl, to the horse tranquilizer xylazine, to benzodiazepines—which makes using illegal drugs more unpredictable and raises the risk of overdose.
These risks make effective treatments indispensable. However, one of the most successful treatments for opioid dependence—buprenorphine—is difficult to get at most pharmacies across the country, according to a new study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Researchers conducted secre...
Source: TIME: Health - June 10, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tara Law Tags: Uncategorized Addiction healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
Craig and Frances Lindner Center of Hope settles with U.S. over methadone clinic records
The Craig and Frances Lindner Center of Hope has reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. government following a DEA inspection. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care News Headlines)
Source: bizjournals.com Health Care News Headlines - May 24, 2022 Category: Health Management Authors: Andy Brownfield Source Type: news
Methadone-related death in detention - Flanagan RJ, Shepherd RT.
Oral methadone may be prescribed to detainees with the aim of minimising the risk of fatal opioid poisoning on release. To study the circumstances under which methadone-related deaths can occur in detention, we audited reports of 17 [14 male, 3 female; med... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - May 4, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Alcohol and Other Drugs Source Type: news
Xylazine, a Dangerous Veterinary Tranquilizer, Is Showing Us the Future of the Overdose Crisis
There’s a new drug beginning to spread rapidly through the street drug supply of the United States: Xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, increasingly used as a synthetic cutting agent for opioids like heroin. We recently published a study, based on years of research across the U.S., which found that xylazine is popping up in cities all over the country. Use of the drug is increasing at exponential rates where it lands, causing outbreaks of skin infections and overdoses.
The national spread of xylazine is a public health threat. It also foreshadows the future of the overdose crisis—increasingly driven by powerful s...
Source: TIME: Health - April 6, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Joseph Friedman and Philippe Bourgois Tags: Uncategorized health healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
Structural violence and the need for compassionate use of methadone in Mexico - Romero-Mendoza M, Pel áez-Ballestas I, Almanza-Avendaño AM, Figueroa E.
The objective of this study was... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - April 1, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Alcohol and Other Drugs Source Type: news
Is high sensitive-troponin I a reliable biomarker for cardiac injury in methadone toxicity? A prospective cross-sectional study - Shemirani H, Sadeghi M, Dehkordi AD, Gheshlaghi F.
BACKGROUND: Methadone is a synthetic opioid mostly used for detoxification therapy, as its use increases; the possibility for methadone-induced cardiotoxicity may rise. The aim of this study was to determine the association of high-sensitivity troponin I l... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - March 28, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Alcohol and Other Drugs Source Type: news
What Euphoria Gets Right —and Wrong—About Teen Drug Use and Addiction
Euphoria—the most tweeted-about TV show of the decade in the U.S.—has thrust teenage drug use into the cultural spotlight. The HBO show follows 17-year-old Rue Bennett, a sweet but troubled teen played by Zendaya, as she navigates a deepening drug use disorder. It’s not pretty. Rue takes the powerful opioid fentanyl, injects morphine, and drags around a suitcase filled with thousands of dollars worth of drugs (a stash she can’t resist dipping into). Meanwhile, she rips apart her life: tearing through her house, ransacking strangers’ homes, and screaming at the people she loves the most.
[time-...
Source: TIME: Health - February 28, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tara Law Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news
Methadone exposures reported to poison control centers in the United States following the COVID-19-related loosening of federal methadone regulations - Welsh C, Doyon S, Hart K.
BACKGROUND: Methadone is a highly effective treatment for opioid use disorder. Its use in the United States is highly regulated at both the federal and state level. The regulations related to take-home doses were loosened because of the 2019 Novel Coronavi... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - January 31, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Alcohol and Other Drugs Source Type: news
Trends in and characteristics of drug overdose deaths involving illicitly manufactured fentanyls - United States, 2019-2020 - O'Donnell J, Tanz LJ, Gladden RM, Davis NL, Bitting J.
During May 2020-April 2021, the estimated number of drug overdose deaths in the United States exceeded 100,000 over a 12-month period for the first time, with 64.0% of deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone (mainly illicitly manufactured f... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - December 18, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Alcohol and Other Drugs Source Type: news
Treatment for opioid dependence has an important role in suicide prevention
Opioid agonist treatment, commonly methadone or buprenorphine, for people dependent on heroin or other opioid drugs has an important role to play in suicide prevention, according to University of Bristol-led research published in The Lancet Psychiatry. (Source: University of Bristol news)
Source: University of Bristol news - December 16, 2021 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Research, Health; Faculty of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Population Health Sciences, Institutes, Bristol Population Health Science Institute; Press Release Source Type: news
Comparisons of injection and non-injection opioid use among Black people in methadone treatment: a pilot in Detroit - Struble CA, Lister JJ, Urbiel J, Nyaku AN, Arfken CL.
Rates of injection drug use (IDU) of opioids have been consistently lower among Black people relative to Non-Hispanic White people despite rising IDU estimates. While explanations have been proposed, no study has explored differences within a clinical samp... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - November 30, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Alcohol and Other Drugs Source Type: news
Public health risks associated with methadone in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis - Rostam-Abadi Y, Gholami J, Noroozi A, Ansari M, Baheshmat S, Hamzehzadeh M, Ghadirzadeh MR, Vahdani B, Ekhtiari H, Mojtabai R, Rahimi-Movaghar A.
BACKGROUND: There has been a marked growth in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) in Iran in the past two decades with positive health outcomes. We conducted a systematic review of studies on the prevalence of non-prescribed methadone use, methadone use ... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - November 29, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Alcohol and Other Drugs Source Type: news
Notes from the field: Testing for nonprescribed fentanyl and percentage of positive test results among patients with opioid use disorder - United States, 2019-2020 - Niles JK, Gudin J, Vivolo-Kantor AM, Gladden RM, Mustaquim D, Seth P, Kaufman HW.
Overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids excluding methadone (primarily illicitly manufactured fentanyl) have increased approximately tenfold since 2013 (1) and have accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, with provisional estimates indicating that sy... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - November 26, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Alcohol and Other Drugs Source Type: news
