Naproxen Alone Wins for Relieving Lower Back Pain (CME/CE)
(MedPage Today) -- Adding cyclobenzaprine or Percocet fails to improve pain or function (Source: MedPage Today Neurology)
Source: MedPage Today Neurology - October 21, 2015 Category: Neurology Source Type: news
Why Incarceration Is Not the Solution to the Opioid-Addiction Epidemic
By Aaron Fox, M.D., M.S.
Finally, Democrats and Republicans have agreed that reducing prison sentences should be a priority, especially for nonviolent drug offenses. It's common sense that people with substance-use disorders should be offered addiction treatment as an alternative to incarceration. But what if they can't stop using drugs? They still don't belong in prison.
Incarceration Undermines Recovery
Incarceration is destabilizing and can set people back in their addiction recovery. In low-income communities, it leads to housing instability and unemployment, and strains the relationships with families necessary f...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - August 21, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Why Incarceration Is Not the Solution to the Opioid-Addiction Epidemic
By Aaron Fox, M.D., M.S. Finally, Democrats and Republicans have agreed that reducing prison sentences should be a priority, especially for nonviolent drug offenses. It's common sense that people with substance-use disorders should be offered addiction treatment as an alternative to incarceration. But what if they can't stop using drugs? They still don't belong in prison. Incarceration Undermines Recovery Incarceration is destabilizing and can set people back in their addiction recovery. In low-income communities, it leads to housing instability and unemployment, and strains the relationships with families necessary f...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - August 21, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Surge in heroin use tied to prescription opioid abuse
Heroin use has increased 63 percent over the last 10 years in the United States, experts report. That increase is closely tied to the growing abuse of prescription opioids such as oxycodone (Percocet), hydrocodone (Vicodin) and codeine. An alarming 45 percent of Americans addicted to heroin are also addicted to prescription opioids. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - August 18, 2015 Category: Science Source Type: news
My Very Own Miracle
Strange how life can throw us a curve and suddenly we are immersed in a world we knew nothing of.
In my case it was eye trouble.
I think it started when I was bitten on my right temple by a very large wasp. The side of my head swelled to ridiculous proportions and although I had a wedding the next day I put on oversized sunglasses and went and danced anyway.
It seems this marked the beginning of my travails with my eyes. Did the swelling cause my already genetically-challenged retina to weaken and dislodge? Would it have anyway?
A few weeks later I awoke to blurriness in the right eye. To test it, I covered it and...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - April 14, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
An Ancient Fix For Backache
Too many doctors refuse to think outside the narrow confines of the mainstream medical establishment – especially when it comes to chronic back pain.
Back pain is one of the most common reasons Americans go to the doctor, which explains why it’s also one of America’s biggest businesses.
But I never cease to be astounded when patients come to my wellness clinic with back pain and tell me they’ve already had a barrage of dangerous Big Pharma prescriptions pushed at them.
These drugs include highly addictive opiates like Vicodin, Percocet and OxyContin.
Meanwhile, big bucks are also made when doctors push ...
Source: Al Sears, MD Natural Remedies - April 7, 2015 Category: Complementary Medicine Authors: Dr. Al Sears Tags: Anti-Aging Source Type: news
Report highlights the dangers of opioid painkillers
Whenever I read or write about the overuse of so-called opioid painkillers it is with mixed feelings. As a lifelong back-pain patient who once depended on them for pain relief, I appreciate the challenge posed by opioids to people in pain and their doctors. People in agonizing pain want it to stop, but opioids are often a poor long-term solution. Doctors want to help their patients, so they may prescribe opioids for extended periods despite well-founded reservations.
At the same time, the epidemic of abuse of these painkillers has led to numerous deaths. Like many Americans, I know people whose lives were destroyed—who e...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - January 15, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Daniel Pendick Tags: Addiction Drugs and Supplements Pain Management hydrocodone opioids oxycodone Source Type: news
25 percent fewer opioid-related deaths in states allowing medical marijuana
On average, states allowing the medical use of marijuana have lower rates of deaths resulting from opioid analgesic overdoses than states without such laws. Opioid analgesics, such as OxyContin, Percocet and Vicodin, are prescribed for moderate to severe pain, and work by suppressing a person’s perception of pain. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - August 25, 2014 Category: Science Source Type: news
Opioid use prior to spine surgery linked to diminished patient reported outcomes
The use of opioid pain relievers (prescription medications, such as Percocet) have been linked to less improvement and higher levels of dissatisfaction following spine surgery, a study finds. "We have demonstrated that increasing amounts of preoperative opioid consumption may have a harmful effect on patient reported outcomes in those undergoing spinal surgery," said study's lead author. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - June 12, 2014 Category: Science Source Type: news
Opioid use prior to spine surgery linked to diminished patient reported outcomes
(American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons) A new study appearing in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery links the use of opioid pain relievers (prescription medications, such as Percocet) to less improvement and higher levels of dissatisfaction following spine surgery. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - June 12, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
Drug users switch to heroin because it's cheap, easy to get
Drug users are attracted to heroin not only for the “high,” but because it is less expensive and easier to get than prescription painkillers, a nationwide survey of heroin users indicate. Researchers have found that many suburban drug users have made the switch. "In the past, heroin was a drug that introduced people to narcotics," said the principal investigator. "But what we're seeing now is that most people using heroin begin with prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, Percocet or Vicodin, and only switch to heroin when their prescription drug habits get too expensive." (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - May 28, 2014 Category: Science Source Type: news
Report: More than 300K seniors addicted to prescription drugs
Drugs include narcotic painkillers such as Percocet, Vicodin and anti-anxiety medicines like Xanax, Valium (Source: Health News: CBSNews.com)
Source: Health News: CBSNews.com - May 21, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Blue Cross Combatting Opiate Addiction By Lowering Prescription Counts
BOSTON (CBS) – Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is battling back against a growing concern with opiate abuse.
The insurer has become the first in the region, and possibly in the country, to cut back on prescribing popular pain medications.
Executives say prescription painkillers are too easily accessible for patients.
So, under the plan, most patients get an initial 15-day prescription with just one refill, which is much less than in previous years.
“The program is to make sure people get the pain medication they need and get the right amount of those pain medications,” Blue Cross Chief Physician John Fal...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - April 8, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: steve saleeba Tags: Health Heard On WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Local Syndicated Local Watch Listen Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts opiates OxyContin Percocet Source Type: news
Xartemis XR (Oxycodone Hydrochloride and Acetaminophen Extended-Release) - updated on RxList
(Source: RxList - New and Updated Drug Monographs)
Source: RxList - New and Updated Drug Monographs - March 28, 2014 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news
ER use of narcotic painkillers up almost 50 percent
Powerful, addictive drugs like OxyContin and Percocet are being used when other medicines might do the trick (Source: Health News: CBSNews.com)
Source: Health News: CBSNews.com - March 22, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
