Prescription Drug Addiction
Posted under Prescription Drug Addiction
Remoxy Tested as Potential Alternative to OxyContin
Managing chronic pain can be a difficult challenge when the risk of developing an addiction to the medication is high. OxyContin is known to effectively treat pain, yet its characteristics make the drug highly addictive. Continue Reading
Posted under Prescription Drug Addiction
Experts Say Prescription Drug Abuse Should be Treated as Any Other Mental Health Issue
Addiction has long been coined as a matter of choice but experts are beginning to look at the problem as a mental health issue. A recent medical article talks about how some are considering the possibility that addiction is no different than depression, bipolar disorder or even schizophrenia. Continue Reading
Posted under Prescription Drug Addiction
More People in the ER for Abusing Muscle Relaxants
Carisoprodol is a muscle relaxant most often prescribed to give relief from acute pain associated with muscle injury. Doctors usually write scripts for a 10- to 14-day course of treatment. Patients would recognize the drug by one of its several market names: Soprodal, Soma or Vanadom. Continue Reading
Posted under Prescription Drug Addiction
America’s Addiction to Ambien
It can begin as innocently as needing to get a restful night’s sleep on a flight or before an important day at work. Desperate to recharge and feel rejuvenated for the next day’s tasks, people will first try drinking warm tea or hot milk or taking a hot shower to knock themselves out. Unfortunately, sleep still eludes them. For insomniacs, the choice is pretty clear – either figure out a way to sleep at least six hours a night or run the risk of losing a job, failing in school or getting sick. For these tired Americans, Ambien can be seen, at least at the beginning, like the answer to their prayers.
Posted under Prescription Drug Addiction
Pfizer’s Harder-to-Abuse Oxecta in Line to Compete with Purdue Pharma’s Mighty OxyContin
Oxecta is the newest FDA approved medication in the already flooded pain treatment market. However, this is pain treatment with a twist. Pfizer and Acura Pharmaceuticals, makers of Oxecta, have outfitted the drug with niacin, which can cause skin irritation and flushing if too much is taken. The anti-abuse technology targets the most common tampering techniques, like crushing for snorting or injecting, reducing the chance of abuse.
Posted under Prescription Drug Addiction
Florida’s Pill Mills: a Source of Legal Drug Trade?
They say that poverty leads to crime. For Florida, a state with record foreclosure rates after the recent recession, loss of the American dream may only be the tip of the iceberg. There, legislators are battling the upspring of literally hundreds of pain clinics that are popping up all over South Florida. These clinics are doling out record doses of oxycodone and other pain management drugs that are drawing in crowds from afar. In Broward County, the problem has gotten so bad that the pain clinics outnumber the golden arches of McDonalds.
Posted under Prescription Drug Addiction
Generation Rx
Are prescription drugs the new drug of choice by today’s youth? The Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA) seems to think so. It is deeming the youth of today as ‘Generation Rx’ based on findings from a study it conducted in 2005.
Posted under Prescription Drug Addiction
Stopping Phony Drugs: California’s E-Pedigree Prescription Drug Laws
Counterfeit prescription drugs are an emerging threat to global health and commerce. It is estimated that up to thirty percent of the world’s supply of prescription drugs are actually fake. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 1 million people die each year from ingesting fake malaria drugs. California has been pushing to implement an e-pedigree law that would make it more difficult for fake drugs to enter the supply chain.
Posted under Prescription Drug Addiction
Unintentional Overdoses Major Cause of Death
Many people begin to use painkillers prescribed by a doctor to relieve an injury or medical condition. Many prescription painkillers, such as methadone and OxyContin, are very easily addictive, and as the patient builds up a tolerance, they put their lives in danger.
Posted under Prescription Drug Addiction
Prescribing Lower Potency Opioids May Help Reduce Dependency
A new study suggests that patients being prescribed higher potencies of opioid medications may be at greater risk of overdose and related death than those being prescribed lower potencies. Patients who have back pain, headache, or a prior history of substance abuse and have been prescribed long-term opioid therapy are more likely to end up in the emergency department or need other types of medical care for opioid withdrawal, overdose, intoxication, or other alcohol- and drug-related problems.
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Everything you need to know to help a loved one struggling with addiction, from the writers and editors of Everything Addiction.
