Addressing Prescription Opioid Overdose: Data Support a Comprehensive Policy Approach Journal of the American Medical Association Preventing prescription opioid overdose deaths is a public health priority. Deaths from these medications exceed deaths from all illicit drugs combined. News reports, actions by states, and congressional legislation that single out the recently approved extended-release hydrocodone product Zohydro ER raise critical questions about the most effective policy needed to reverse the problem...
Dose-Related Effects for the Precipitation of Psychopathology by Opioid or Tranquilizer/Sedative Nonmedical Prescription Use Journal of Addiction Medicine (free ASAM member resource) Any opioid or tranquilizer/sedative nonmedical use of prescription medications (NUPM) may increase risk for alcohol use disorder and non-NUPM substance use disorder, with weekly/daily opioid or tranquilizer/sedative nonmedical users appearing to be most vulnerable to the incidence and recurrence of depressive, bipolar, and anxiety disorders. This work highlights the importance of screening for the NUPM by clinicians, and it highlights the need for further research to better understand the psychopathology–NUPM interaction.
Relieving Pain in America: Insights from an Institute of Medicine Committee Journal of the American Medical Association This “Viewpoint” discusses how the Institute of Medicine stands behind the estimate that 100 million Americans have chronic pain and the committee’s recommendation that better data are needed to create the cultural transformation required to reduce the effects of pain in America.
Internet Agency Clashes with FDA Over Online Sites Wall Street Journal Pharmalot Last July, the FDA teamed with Interpol and dozens of countries to try to shut down more than 1,300 websites suspected of selling drugs without prescriptions. They sent a list of all the websites, carrying names such as buyoxycontinonline.com and approvedonlinepharmacy.net, to the Chinese company that registered them, The Wall Street Journal writes.
Implementation of Treatment Guidelines for Specialist Mental Health Care Schizophrenia Bulletin This systematic review is based on a search carried out in March 2012 and includes 5 randomized studies that examined the effectiveness of guideline implementation strategies in improving healthcare services and outcomes for people with mental illness.
Reports of Pathological Gambling, Hypersexuality, and Compulsive Shopping Associated With Dopamine Receptor Agonist Drugs JAMA Internal Medicine Severe impulse control disorders involving pathological gambling, hypersexuality, and compulsive shopping have been reported in association with the use of dopamine receptor agonist drugs in case series and retrospective patient surveys. These agents are used to treat Parkinson disease, restless leg syndrome, and hyperprolactinemia. These findings confirm and extend the evidence that dopamine receptor agonist drugs are associated with these specific impulse control disorders.
Opioid Withdrawal, Craving, and Use During and After Outpatient Buprenorphine Stabilization and Taper: A Discrete Survival and Growth Mixture Model Addictive Behaviors Generally, participants with lower baseline levels and greater decreases in craving and withdrawal during stabilization combined with slower craving and withdrawal rebound during buprenorphine taper remained opioid-free longer. This exploratory work expanded on the importance of monitoring craving and withdrawal during buprenorphine induction, stabilization, and taper. Future research may allow individually tailored and timely interventions to be developed to extend time-to-first opioid use.
Drug Maker Warns That OxyContin Suit Could Be 'Crippling' Bloomberg Purdue, which makes the best-selling painkiller OxyContin, has never gone to trial on a case of OxyContin abuse. It has won dismissals in more than 400 personal-injury lawsuits related to the drug. And while it has settled some product-liability cases related to OxyContin under secret terms, Purdue has defeated more than 10 efforts to wage class-actions against it. In this remote county courthouse in southeast Kentucky, the company faces a potential legal reckoning that its own chief financial officer called “crippling.”
Association of Opioid Agonist Therapy with Lower Incidence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Young Adult Injection Drug Users JAMA Internal Medicine In this cohort of young adult injection drug users, recent maintenance opioid agonist therapy was associated with a lower incidence of HCV infection. Maintenance treatment with methadone or buprenorphine for opioid use disorders may be an important strategy to prevent the spread of HCV infection among young injection drug users.
Protestant Clergy Rarely Preach About Mental Illness, Survey Finds Huffington Post Protestant clergy rarely preach about mental illness to their congregations and only one-quarter of congregations have a plan in place to assist members who have a mental health crisis, a new LifeWay Research survey found. The findings, in a nation where one in four Americans have suffered with mental illness, demonstrate a need for greater communication, said Ed Stetzer, executive director of the evangelical research firm, a ministry of LifeWay Christian Resources, which is an agency of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Using Social Media to Better Understand, Prevent, and Treat Substance Use National Institutes of Health “Social media has the potential to fill important gaps in our current understanding of tobacco, alcohol and drug use and to improve the efficacy of substance abuse interventions. For example, user-generated social media interactions can reveal important insights into substance use patterns and various social factors…”
ASAM Provides Message Manager Training ASAM As part of the Patient Advocacy Task Force’s (PATF) communication strategy, ASAM has been working with Sheila Strand, a media consultant, to provide message manager trainings to its members. Since ASAM members are experts in the field of addiction treatment, many are regularly contacted by the media for comment on a story or questions about addiction.
Richard G. Soper, MD, JD, MS, FASAM, Editor-in-Chief, ASAM Weekly
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The views and positions of any content published in ASAM Weekly are not necessarily endorsed by ASAM nor a reflection of ASAM's beliefs and policies. The features are presented as a summary of the contemporary issues being represented and expressed in scientific, governmental, commercial, and media sources across the specialty field of addiction medicine. Contact ASAM Weekly with any comments or feedback.