Prescription drugs - Articles - Page 2

Study: ERs not a major source of opioid prescriptions

January 16, 2018

Opioid prescribing has increased 471 percent from 1996 to 2012, according to a new Annals of Emergency Medicine study, “Emergency Department Contribution to the Prescription Opioid Epidemic.” But, emergency departments are not a major source of opioid prescriptions. In fact, their share of opioid prescribing is small and declining.

Opioid prescribing remains high in certain counties

July 14, 2017

The amount of opioids prescribed in the United States peaked in 2010 and then decreased each year through 2015, but remains at high levels and varies from county to county in the U.S., according to the latest Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Federal workers comp to monitor opioid prescription usage

July 3, 2017

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs has begun instituting procedures aimed at monitoring and managing opioid prescription usage under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act. OWCP’s Division of Federal Employees’ Compensation provides benefits for federal employees who sustain a workplace injury or illness.

Why do docs prescribe more antibiotics?

Because we expect them, study finds

February 24, 2017

Experimental evidence confirms what surveys have long suggested: Physicians are more likely to prescribe antibiotics when they believe there is a high expectation of it from their patients, even if they think the probability of bacterial infection is low and antibiotics would not be effective, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

Non-drug approaches to pain management prove effective

September 7, 2016

Data from a review of U.S.-based clinical trials published today in Mayo Clinic Proceedings suggest that some of the most popular complementary health approaches — such as yoga, tai chi, and acupuncture — appear to be effective tools for helping to manage common pain conditions.

Safety 2016: A look back

How opioid abuse affects the workplace

Benita Mehta

July 5, 2016

Opioid abuse statistics can be alarming. According to the CDC, opioid overdose deaths have quadrupled since 1999, and it is estimated that 78 people die every day in the U.S.

A NIOSH Science Blog post

The opioid overdose epidemic and the workplace

January 13, 2016

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released troubling statistics on the growing epidemic of drug and opioid overdose deaths in the United States. The origins of this epidemic have been linked to prescription opioids.

Drug overdose deaths hit record numbers in 2014

47,000+ deaths last year, mostly due to opioid pain relievers and heroin

December 21, 2015

From 2000 to 2014 nearly half a million Americans died from drug overdoses. Opioid overdose deaths, including both opioid pain relievers and heroin, hit record levels in 2014, with an alarming 14 percent increase in just one year, according to new data published today in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Prescription painkillers cause 44 fatal overdoses every day

October 30, 2015

Each day, 44 people in the United States die from overdose of prescription painkillers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Clues to opioid abuse from state prescription drug monitoring programs

CDC urges early treatment of severely ill and high-risk patients

October 19, 2015

Drug overdose is the leading cause of injury death in the United States – mostly due to abuse and misuse of prescription opioid pain relievers, benzodiazepines (sedatives/tranquilizers), and stimulants. Information from state prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) can be used to detect and measure prescribing patterns that suggest abuse and misuse of controlled substances, according to a report released today in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Surveillance Summary.