Among patients ages 65 and older, the rate of opioid-related hospitalizations jumped 34 percent between 2010 and 2015, according to statistical brief from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
West Virginia has the highest rate of fatal opioid overdoses among U.S. states, with 49.6 per 100,000 individuals, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Chronic pain patients don't fare much better taking opioids to manage their pain than they do by taking placebos, a study published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association found.
One in 25 women hospitalized for a pregnancy-related reason tested positive for an illegal drug or a drug used to treat drug addiction in 2016-17 in Pennsylvania, according to a new report.
Fatal drug overdoses have fallen nationwide over the last six months, according to a CDC report. However, health experts warn against early claims of the opioid and drug epidemic ending.
The comprehensive opioids bill passed by the Senate and Congress includes a provision to protect opioid use disorder patients from a predatory practice known as patient brokering, according to The Washington Post.
Many people still want opioids to manage pain after surgery despite heightened media coverage surrounding addiction risk and the opioid epidemic, according to survey results presented at the American Society of Anesthesiologists' annual meeting in San Francisco.
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee will stop covering the prescription opioid OxyContin beginning January 1, 2019.
A study published in JAMA examined the frequency of opioid overdoses after discharge from surgery.
Massachusetts currently leads the nation in decreasing opioids prescription, according to a Blue Cross Blue Shield report cited by The Boston Herald. Blue Cross Blue Shield's survey illustrated 51 percent fewer opioid prescriptions written in Massachusetts in 2017 than 2013; specifically, Bay State physicians wrote 193 opioids prescriptions per 1,000 Blue Cross-insured members. The national average is 394 per 1,000 members. The study, published in Preventive Medicine, analyzed data from over 1,000 Americans. In a survey, the researchers queried respondents' attitudes on needle exchanges, (where people can dispose of used syringes and get sterile ones), safe injection sites (where people can use drugs under medical supervision) and broader opinions on addiction.