The Abuse ‐Deterrent Folly
Jeffrey A. SingerOn September 11 a Food and Drug Administration Advisory Committeerecommended rejecting Purdue Pharma ’s request to add to the label of the abuse‐deterrent formulation (ADF) of its drug OxyContin the claim that it reduces the incidence of non‐medical use and overdose from opioids.In the early part of this century law enforcement officialsreported that many non ‐medical users of the diverted prescription drug OxyContin, a concentrated, slow‐release formulation of oxycodone, would crush the pills and snort them, or dissolve them in liquid and inject them. In 2010, as its patent for ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - September 12, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
Federal Aid Creates Central ‐Planning Power
This study argues that Congress should repeal all federal aid-to-state programs for many reasons, including that aid comes with costly strings attached that destroy local democracy.Richard Epstein and Mario Loyolanoted about aid programs: “When Americans vote in state and local elections, they think they are voting on state and local policies. But often they are just deciding which local officials get to implement the dictates of distant and insulated federal bureaucrats, whom even Congress can’t control.”I came across a table (p. 82) in New Jersey ’s budget that lists the $15 billion the state received in 2020 fro...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - September 4, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Chris Edwards Source Type: blogs
We Can ’t Forget the Nation’s Other Epidemic
Covid isn’t merely overshadowing the drug overdose crisis—it’s directly worsening it.
The post We Can’t Forget the Nation’s Other Epidemic appeared first on The Hastings Center. (Source: blog.bioethics.net)
Source: blog.bioethics.net - August 31, 2020 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Susan Gilbert Tags: Health Care bioethics COVID-19 Hastings Bioethics Forum Health and Health Care Opioid Epidemic overdose Psychiatry and Mental Health syndicated Source Type: blogs
The AMA Opioid Task Force 2020 Report Should Come as No Surprise to Those Who Follow the Data
Jeffrey A. SingerThe American Medical Association recently released itOpioid Task Force 2020 Report. The Task Force found there was a 37.1 percent decrease in opioid prescriptions between 2014 and 2019; a 64.4 percent increase in the use of state prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) in the last year (739 million queries in 2019); and hundreds of thousands of physicians accessing continuing medical education courses on opioid prescribing (now mandatory in some states). However, the report states:Despite these efforts, illicitly manufactured fentanyl, fentanyl analogues and stimulants (e.g. methamphetamine...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - August 31, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
---
How will the COVID-19 pandemic affect opioid overdose deaths and states’ ability to respond? The Commonwealth Fund’s Jesse Baumgartner, Gabriella Aboulafia, and Sara Collins look at unemployment trends and opioid deaths to determine which states may be battling both an economic downturn and an opioid epidemic.
(Source: The Commonwealth Fund: Blog)
Source: The Commonwealth Fund: Blog - August 28, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Jesse C. Baumgartner, Gabriella N. Aboulafia, Sara R. Collins Source Type: blogs
How the Pandemic Is Taking Its Toll on Our Mental Health
The year 2020 will go down in history as one of the most devastating in history. Hundreds of thousands have died and millions have been hospitalized due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 has changed the lives of so many.
No matter where you live, dealing with the effects of economic and physical lockdowns in a community leads to multiple mental health challenges. After months of living with the coronavirus, many people are getting tired, burned out, and more and more frustrated.
In America, we face a particular challenge. Our federal government has chosen to take a backseat during the pandemic. Instead of leadin...
Source: World of Psychology - August 17, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: John M. Grohol, Psy.D. Tags: General Mental Health and Wellness Psychology Research coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic Source Type: blogs
The DEA ’s Opioid Production Quotas Threaten Hospitalized Patients, Yet Supply of Street Fentanyl is Plentiful
Jeffrey A. SingerThe COVID-19 pandemic has placed another stumbling block in the way of the Drug Enforcement Administration ’sfutile effort to reduce the country ’s drug overdose rate through quotas on the manufacture of all forms of prescription opioids.The DEA ’s annual quotas have brought production levels more than 50 percent below 2016 levels. But, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency increased this year’s quota by 15 percent, to allow drug makers to respond to pandemic‐induced shortages. Intravenous opioids such as fentanyl are va luable tools used to manage patients on ventilators—as well ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - July 24, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
A Complication of the COVID Era
Submitted and written by Gia Coleman MD and Roshan Givergis DO, edits by Meyers and SmithA woman in her 30s was found crawling in the streets, altered on arrival to the ED. Here is her presenting ECG:How would you interpret this EKG and what is on your differential?At first glance, it appears to be a sinus rhythm with PR prolongation at a rate of about 75 bpm. The QRS may appear narrow but is in fact slightly wide (see figure below). The computer measured it to be 136 ms.Perhaps the most striking finding in this EKG is the almost complete loss/flattening of the T waves. The computer calculated the QTC to be 427. Looking cl...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - July 23, 2020 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs
Why Is NPR Still Obsessing Over Prescription Numbers When They Are Not Associated With Non ‐medical Use or Addiction?
Jeffrey A. SingerNational Public Radio released aninvestigative report today showing that doctors and dentists are still prescribing opioids for pain management at “rates widely considered unsafe.”This persistent focus on the number of pills doctors prescribe defies justification in light of the fact that data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health consistently revealno association between prescription volume and the non ‐medical use of prescription opioids or addiction.And despite the overall prescription volume coming down dramatically since 2...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - July 17, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
As the War on Drugs Relentlessly Grinds On, Overdose Deaths Relentlessly Mount
Jeffrey A. SingerWhen the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionannounced last January that drug overdoses in 2018 declined by 4.1 percent –from 70,237 in 2017 to 67,367 in 2018 –many in thepress took that as a sign of possible progress in America ’s longest war, the war on drugs. However, a deeper look at the data painted a very different picture.The CDC report stated:The age ‐adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone, which include drugs such as fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, and tramadol, increased from 0.3 per 100,000 standard popula...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - July 16, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
What Is Lean?
Misusing prescription cough medicine can lead to nausea and dizziness, and in some cases, seizures and overdose. Read More » (Source: NIDA Drugs and Health Blog)
Source: NIDA Drugs and Health Blog - July 13, 2020 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs
What Is Lean?
Misusing prescription cough medicine can lead to nausea and dizziness, and in some cases, seizures and overdose.
Read More » (Source: NIDA Drugs and Health Blog)
Source: NIDA Drugs and Health Blog - July 13, 2020 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, July 13th 2020
In conclusion, sitting for prolonged periods of time without interruption is unfavorably associated with DBP and HDL cholesterol.
Exercise Slows Inappropriate Growth of Blood Vessels in a Mouse Model of Macular Degeneration
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2020/07/exercise-slows-inappropriate-growth-of-blood-vessels-in-a-mouse-model-of-macular-degeneration/
Excessive growth of blood vessels beneath the retina is a proximate cause of blindness in conditions such as macular degeneration. Researchers here provide evidence for physical activity to be influential in the pace at which this process of tissu...
Source: Fight Aging! - July 12, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Will Isotonitazene Replace Fentanyl on the Black Market?
Jeffrey A. SingerWaging a war on drugs is like playing a game ofWhac ‐A‐Mole.In 2005 Congress addressed the “meth crisis” by passing theCombat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act that, among other things, made the popular decongestantSudafed,used by homegrown labs to make meth, a behind ‐the‐counter drug and restricted its sale to patients. It didn’t take long for Mexican drug cartels to fill the void created by the crackdown on domestic meth labs, and to findother and better ways to manufacture meth. Now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report methamphetamine ‐related d...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - July 10, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
