In a Perspective piece published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the authors state that the federal government’s elimination of the “X waiver” at the end of 2022 was a significant step towards improving addiction treatment. The X waiver required physicians and other prescribers to undergo uncompensated training and obtain a special license, creating… Continue reading Expert calls for reforms to address the overdose crisis
Tag: overdose
Battling the Overdose Crisis
Whether it’s due to opioids, alcohol poisoning or the overconsumption of another drug, there’s a public-health crisis involving overdoses. People of all ages, from all backgrounds, are unintentionally dying from overdoses due to addiction as well as misuse or abuse of substances like opioids and alcohol. In 2017, more than 190 million prescriptions were written… Continue reading Battling the Overdose Crisis
A Safe Painkiller?
Researchers working from scratch have developed a new opioid drug candidate that blocks pain without the dangerous side effects of current prescription painkillers. The international team — led by scientists at UC San Francisco, Stanford University, the University of North Carolina (UNC), and the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany — explored more than four trillion… Continue reading A Safe Painkiller?
Opioid Prescriptions Given to Patients Who Have Already Overdosed
Although the dangers of over-prescribing opioids are well known, patients who have been hospitalized after opioid overdoses are being given the same kind of medicine again, putting them at high risk of a second overdose. The findings, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, highlight the challenges faced by physicians to balance the known risks… Continue reading Opioid Prescriptions Given to Patients Who Have Already Overdosed