Oregon Decriminalized Possession of Small Amounts of Drugs. Fatal ODs Didn't Skyrocket

• Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter
• September 28, 2023
• Full Page

Critics of a law that decriminalized drug possession in Oregon have blamed the policy for rising overdose deaths in the state, but a new study finds no evidence of that.

Researchers discovered that while drug overdose deaths have risen recently in Oregon, it appears the ...

Trauma in Childhood Can Harm Health for a Lifetime: Study

• Robert Preidt
• November 15, 2021
• Full Page

As if suffering through a childhood trauma weren't enough, new research suggests it might raise the risk of poor mental and physical health later in life.

Researchers analyzed nearly 2,900 responses to the 2019 New Zealand Family Violence Survey and found that about 45% ...

Oklahoma Supreme Courts Overturns $465 Million J & J Opioid Ruling

• Robert Preidt and Robin Foster
• November 10, 2021
• Full Page

A previous court ruling that ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay Oklahoma $465 million for the company's role in the opioid epidemic was tossed out by the state's highest court on Tuesday.

In a 5-1 vote, the Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected the state's argument that Johnson ...

California Judge Sides With Drug Companies in Opioid Lawsuit

• Robert Preidt and Robin Foster
• November 3, 2021
• Full Page

A California judge has ruled against local governments that sued drug companies for billions of dollars to recover their costs of dealing with the opioid epidemic.

In a tentative ruling issued Monday, Orange County Superior Court Judge Peter Wilson rejected the plaintiff...

U.S. Murder Rate Up 30% During Pandemic, Highest One-Year Rise Ever

• Robert Preidt and Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporters
• October 6, 2021
• Full Page

The rate at which homicide is taking the lives of Americans jumped by 30% over the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic -- the largest year-to-year increase ever, new federal government figures show.

The rate jumped from 6 homicides per 100,000 people in 2019 to 7.8 per 1...

Fatal Opioid ODs Keep Rising in Black Americans

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• September 13, 2021
• Full Page

The decades-long U.S. opioid epidemic could be hitting Black people harder than white folks as the crisis enters a new phase.

Opioid overdose death rates among Black Americans jumped nearly 40% from 2018 to 2019 in four states hammered by the epidemic, researchers found....

Loneliness Raises Opioid Dangers in Seniors: Study

• Robert Preidt
• July 29, 2021
• Full Page

Illustrating a heartbreaking cycle, new research finds that lonely seniors are much more likely to take opioid painkillers, sedatives, anti-anxiety drugs and other medications.

This puts them at increased risk for drug dependency, attention problems, falls, accidents and...

Kids Still Dying From Accidental Exposure to Fentanyl Pain Patches

• Robert Preidt
• July 26, 2021
• Full Page

Accidental exposure to fentanyl pain patches is putting children's lives at risk, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns.

Fentanyl is a powerful opioid pain reliever; so powerful that fentanyl patches are typically only prescribed to patients who require round-the-c...

Dr. Rahul Gupta to Be Nominated as Next U.S. Drug Czar

• Robert Preidt and Ernie Mundell and Robin Foster
• July 14, 2021
• Full Page

President Joe Biden plans to nominate Dr. Rahul Gupta as the head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Gupta led the Biden transition team for that office, was the former health commissioner of West Virginia, and is chief medical and health officer ...

Doctors May Be Overprescribing Opioids After Surgeries

• Robert Preidt
• June 14, 2021
• Full Page

Many patients who are prescribed opioids after surgery could get the same level of pain relief with non-opioid alternatives such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen without the risk of addiction, researchers say.

"Opioids have been a routine part of postsurgical pain care for ...

Death Rates Are Rising Across Rural America

• Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter
• June 8, 2021
• Full Page

In rural America, more people die from chronic health conditions and substance abuse than in suburbs and cities, and the gap is widening.

Researchers report in a new study that the difference in rural and urban death rates tripled over the past 20 years mostly due to dea...

Jail Dims Hopes for Recovery for Young People With Mental Illness

• Robert Preidt
• April 7, 2021
• Full Page

Being jailed puts teens with untreated psychiatric disorders at increased risk for long-term mental health struggles, researchers say.

"These are not necessarily bad kids, but they have many strikes against them," said study lead author Linda Teplin. "Physical abuse, sex...

Gen X, Millennials in Worse Health Than Prior Generations at Same Age

• Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter
• March 25, 2021
• Full Page

Medicine may have advanced by leaps and bounds over the last century, but Generation X and millennials are in worse health than their parents and grandparents were at their age.

That's the conclusion of a new study that looked at markers of physical and mental health acr...

Pandemic Unemployment Has Taken Its Own Deadly Toll

• Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter
• March 1, 2021
• Full Page

With U.S. deaths from COVID-19 passing the grim milestone of a half-million, a new study suggests that another 30,000-plus Americans have died due to pandemic-related unemployment.

Using various data sources, researchers estimated that number of deaths between April 2020...

In Philadelphia, an Animal Tranquilizer Is Driving Deadly Rise in Opioid ODs

• Alan Mozes HealthDay Reporter
• February 3, 2021
• Full Page

Philadelphia is seeing a surge in overdose fatalities involving heroin and/or fentanyl plus an animal tranquilizer not approved for human use, according to a new study.

The tranquilizer -- called xylazine -- is a non-opioid sedative and painkiller approved by the U.S. Fo...

Meth Overdose Deaths Are Surging in America, With Minorities Most at Risk

• Steven Reinberg
• January 22, 2021
• Full Page

Deaths from overdoses of methamphetamine are rising across the United States, especially among Blacks and American Indians/Alaska Natives, a new study warns.

"While much attention is focused on the opioid crisis, a methamphetamine crisis has been quietly, but actively, g...

As More Legal Pot Dispensaries Open, More Young Adults Start Using

• January 18, 2021
• Full Page

As more states legalize marijuana and more shops begin to sell it, more young adults are using pot and developing drug-use disorders, a new study finds.

For the study, researchers looked at young adults in Los Angeles County before and after retail sale of recreational m...

Pandemic Is Driving U.S. Surge in Cardiac Arrests Tied to Overdose

• Ernie Mundell
• December 3, 2020
• Full Page

Blame it on the pandemic: For people struggling with drug addiction, 2020 has triggered a big rise in emergency room visits for cardiac arrest tied to drug overdoses, new research shows.

The finding was based on data involving 80% of emergency medical services (EMS) "act...

Nurse Practitioners Key to Opioid Treatment in Rural U.S.: Study

• November 26, 2020
• Full Page

In isolated areas of the United States, nurse practitioners are filling an important role in helping people access treatment for opioid addiction, according to a Washington State University (WSU) study.

Nurse practitioners and physician assistants have only been authoriz...

'Diseases of Despair' Skyrocket in America

• Serena Gordon
• November 10, 2020
• Full Page

Even before the coronavirus pandemic began, Americans were already suffering: A new study reports that alcohol and drug misuse were up dramatically, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors were up 170% between 2009 and 2018.

Researchers call these conditions "diseases of des...

1 in 3 High School Seniors Who Misuse Prescription Opioids Turn to Heroin

• Steven Reinberg
• October 28, 2020
• Full Page

Among high school seniors, nearly a third of those who misuse prescription opioids use heroin by age 35, a new study shows.

"It is a very timely study given the number of adolescents and young adults who were overprescribed opioids and who are now aging into adulthood," ...

Sexual Victimization Persists in U.S. Military for LGBTQs: Study

• Robert Preidt
• May 4, 2020
• Full Page

Lesbian, gay and bisexual members in the U.S. military are at higher risk for sexual harassment, sexual assault and stalking, a new study reports.

And that sexual victimization can trigger mental health problems such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, sub...

Just 1% of Doctors Prescribe Nearly Half of Opioids in U.S.

• Robert Preidt
• January 30, 2020
• Full Page

Nearly half of all opioid doses and more than a quarter of all opioid prescriptions in the United States come from 1% of health care providers, a new study says.

The authors said this suggests that efforts to reduce overuse of prescription opioid painkillers shou...

As Manufacturing Jobs End, Opioid OD Deaths May Rise

• Steven Reinberg
• December 30, 2019
• Full Page

It's a connection that health officials might miss, but an alarming new study shows that when factories close, deaths from opioid overdoses soar.

"There's this sense of increasing despair among people -- especially people who are working-class who have seen in the ...

Teen Opioid Users Face Same OD Risks as Adults

• Robert Preidt
• December 16, 2019
• Full Page

U.S. teens and young adults are as likely as older people to overdose on prescription opioid painkillers and have the same risk factors, researchers say.

They analyzed data on 2.8 million privately insured patients from 12 to 21 years of age who received opioid presc...

Fewer Americans Now Struggle With 'Problem' Pot Use

• Dennis Thompson
• November 26, 2019
• Full Page

There are fewer problem "potheads" today than before the wave of marijuana legalization that's swept the United States, a new analysis of federal survey data shows.

Researchers found an across-the-board decline in daily or near-daily pot users who could be diagnosed ...

Using Opioids After Vasectomy May Trigger Persistent Use: Study

• Robert Preidt
• October 11, 2019
• Full Page

Taking opioids after a vasectomy doesn't improve pain control and is associated with increased risk of persistent use of the addictive painkillers months later, a new study says.

It included 228 men who had vasectomies performed by eight different urologists. Two of ...

Many U.S. Women Get Opioids After Giving Birth

• Robert Preidt
• July 26, 2019
• Full Page

Opioid painkillers were prescribed to nearly half of U.S. women who gave birth in recent years.

That's from a new study that found 1% to 2% of those women were still filling opioid prescriptions a year later. Those most likely to be doing so were women who we...

Fatal Opioid ODs Rise as Temperatures Fall

• Robert Preidt
• June 19, 2019
• Full Page

Why do opioid overdose deaths spike after cold snaps?

That's the mystery Brown University researchers set out to solve in a study of more than 3,000 opioid-related deaths in Connecticut and Rhode Island between 2014 and 2017.

The new analysis uncovered a 25...

Drug Overdoses, Suicide Are Risk for New Mothers: Study

• Steven Reinberg
• June 18, 2019
• Full Page

Drug overdoses and suicide are common causes of death among women who die within a year of giving birth, a new study finds.

In fact, in the study based on data from California, these two causes accounted for nearly 20% of postpartum deaths from 2010 to 2012.

U.S. Dentists Prescribe 37 Times More Opioids Than in England: Study

• Alan Mozes
• May 24, 2019
• Full Page

Despite the nation's opioid epidemic, U.S. dentists are far more likely to prescribe addictive opioid painkillers than their British counterparts, a new study reveals.

In 2016, American dentists wrote 37 times as many opioid prescriptions as British dentists: 1.4 mil...

Dispensing Opioid Antidote Without a Prescription Might Save Lives

• Robert Preidt
• May 6, 2019
• Full Page

Opioid overdose deaths would decline dramatically if U.S. pharmacists could dispense the antidote naloxone without a doctor's prescription, a new study says.

In states that have adopted such laws, opioid deaths fell an average of 27% in the year after passage and...

Another Cost of the Opioid Epidemic: Billions of Dollars in Lost Taxes

• Robert Preidt
• April 16, 2019
• Full Page

Opioid abuse-related job losses have cost U.S. federal and state governments tens of billions of dollars in lost tax revenue, a new study claims.

Penn State researchers analyzed data from the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health along with estimates of decline...

ADHD Meds Safe With Epilepsy, Study Finds

• Robert Preidt
• March 12, 2019
• Full Page

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often occurs in people with epilepsy. Now, new research provides reassurance that taking ADHD medications won't raise their risk of seizures.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from thousands of epilepsy patients ...

Many Heroin Users Unprepared for Fentanyl OD

• Robert Preidt
• March 12, 2019
• Full Page

Though they know that nearly all heroin is laced with the dangerous synthetic opioid fentanyl, many Baltimore users aren't prepared to prevent or treat fentanyl-related overdoses, a new study finds.

Baltimore has a thriving heroin trade and 1,000 opioid overdose deat...

U.S. Deaths From Suicide, Substance Abuse Reach Record High

• Robert Preidt
• March 5, 2019
• Full Page

Deaths from drugs, alcohol and suicide in the United States hit an all-time high in 2017 -- more than 150,000 in all.

That number was more than double 1999 levels, according to a chilling new analysis of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data by the Tru...

Among Rich Nations, U.S. Has Highest Rate of Fatal Drug ODs

• Steven Reinberg
• February 21, 2019
• Full Page

It's a ranking that no country would want to have: A new study shows America has taken the lead in drug overdose deaths, with rates almost four times higher than in 17 other wealthy nations.

Drug overdose deaths in the United States have more than tripled over the pa...

Teen Pot Use Fell in States That Legalized Medical Marijuana: Study

• Dennis Thompson
• February 15, 2019
• Full Page

Marijuana legalization has been sweeping across the United States, raising concerns that more teens will start toking as pot smoking gains in legitimacy.

A new study suggests that's not the case. Researchers actually found fewer teen marijuana users in states that have...

Study Reaffirms Safety of Hepatitis C Meds in Liver Cancer Patients

• Robert Preidt
• February 12, 2019
• Full Page

It's safe to use antiviral drugs to treat hepatitis C in liver cancer survivors, a new study reports.

The findings contradict previous research suggesting that antiviral drugs might increase these patients' risk of liver cancer recurrence.

That prior resear...

In West Virginia, Few Opioid OD Survivors Get Good Follow-Up Care: Study

• Robert Preidt
• February 6, 2019
• Full Page

Ninety percent of people who survived opioid overdoses in West Virginia did not receive recommended treatment to reduce their risk of overdosing again, according to a new study.

West Virginia has the highest opioid overdose death rate in the United States, four times...

Making OxyContin 'Tamper Proof' Helped Spread Hepatitis C

• Steven Reinberg
• February 4, 2019
• Full Page

An effort to make the opioid painkiller OxyContin harder to abuse drove addicted patients to heroin and caused a dramatic increase in hepatitis C, a new study suggests.

In a classic case of unintended consequences, Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma reformulated its po...

Are Some Opioid Abusers Using Their Pets to Get the Drugs?

• Dennis Thompson
• January 15, 2019
• Full Page

To fight America's opioid epidemic, lawmakers and regulators have clamped down hard on doctors' prescribing practices.

But one avenue for obtaining prescription opioids appears to have been overlooked, according to a new study.

Veterinarians are prescribing...

Postpartum Opioid Rx May Lead to Persistent Use: Study

• Robert Preidt
• January 4, 2019
• Full Page

New mothers who take opioid painkillers after either vaginal birth or cesarean section may be at increased risk of becoming persistent users, a new study finds.

Researchers from Vanderbilt University in Nashville examined data from more than 102,000 new mothers in Te...

Can Herbal Drug Kratom Kill?

• Steven Reinberg
• January 2, 2019
• Full Page

The herbal drug kratom, which U.S. drug regulators have said is essentially an opioid, has been linked to some narcotic overdose deaths, but whether it's dangerous by itself isn't clear.

In a new study, University of Colorado researchers reviewed 15 kratom-related de...