Opioids | LocalHealthGuide

Picture of a U.S. penny next to milligrams of fentanyl, which is a fatal dose for most drug users. DEA

February 4, 2019 Addiction / Opioids

America’s overdose epidemic projected to get worse

The annual number of opioid overdose deaths will increase to 81,700 in 2025, the study projects.

February 4, 2019 Addiction / Opioids

How one family allegedly made fortune on opioids

The first 9 months of 2013, Purdue Pharma, the maker of the addictive opioid pain drug OxyContin, paid the Sackler family $400 million from its profits

January 9, 2019 Addiction / Biotechnology / Opioids / Substance Abuse

Are you OK? Cellphone app detects opioid overdose

The app, called Second Chance, detects overdose-related symptoms about 90 percent of the time by tracking your breathing and movement.

January 7, 2019 Opioids / Painkillers / Substance Abuse

Drug users seeking out deadly opioid fentanyl

More than half of drug users in San Francisco’s gritty Tenderloin district say they purposely seek fentanyl, despite its dangers

November 30, 2018 Addiction / Methamphetamine / Opioids / Pregnancy

Meth and opioid use during pregnancy rises, study

Amphetamine and opioid use in pregnancy has increased substantially over the last decade in the U.S., particularly in rural counties, a new study has found

November 14, 2018 Opioids / Painkillers / Pregnancy / Substance Abuse / Women's Health

Childbirth in the Age of Addiction

While most mothers who get a bottle of pain pills when leaving the hospital won’t develop dependence or an addiction, some will.

October 17, 2018 Addiction / Opioids / Substance Abuse

How Fentanyl Changes the Opioid Equation

With lethal amounts of fentanyl showing up in heroin and other drugs throughout the country, active drug users are at a greater risk of dying than ever before

October 9, 2018 Addiction

Black Market For Suboxone Gives Some A Glimpse Of Recovery

A Suboxone black market exists in part because addiction treatment can be hard to find.

October 3, 2018 Drugs / Health News / Opioids / Substance Abuse

VA Adding Opioid Antidote To Defibrillator Cabinets For Quicker Overdose Response

The VA is adding naloxone kits to AED cabinets in its buildings across the country, an initiative that could become a model for other health care organizations.

September 21, 2018 Addiction / Benzodiazepines / Emergency Medicine / Opioids

Most Hospital ERs Won’t Treat Your Addiction. These Will.

Despite an overdose epidemic that is killing nearly 200 Americans a day, the vast majority of hospitals do not offer addiction treatment to ER patients.

August 28, 2018 Mental Health / Opioids / Suicide

Suicide By Opioid: New Research Suggests Overdoses Should Be Classified As Self-Harm

Suicide rates have been steadily climbing, but their numbers are likely even higher.

August 22, 2018 Addiction / Opioids

Opioid Overdose Deaths Rose in 2017 Driven by Fentanyl

Nearly 72,000 Americans died from a drug overdose in 2017, about 7 percent more than in the previous year, CDC report.

August 14, 2018 Addiction / Opioids / Painkillers / Pregnancy / Substance Abuse / Women's Health

For Addicted Women, the Year After Childbirth Is the Deadliest

The opioid epidemic has addicted nearly 3 million Americans and killing more than 350,000. But pregnant women and new moms are particularly vulnerable.

August 2, 2018 Drugs / Opioids

Rival Opioid Makers Sought To Cash In On Alarm Over OxyContin

As Purdue Pharma faced mounting criticism over deaths linked to OxyContin, rival drugmakers saw a chance to boost sales of similarly dangerous painkillers