The opioid epidemic that is causing devastation in many communities in the U.S. may be being worsened by financial payments made by pharmaceutical companies to advocacy organizations that help people cope with chronic pain, according to a new report released by Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. Fueling an Epidemic: Exposing the Financial Ties Between Opioid Manufacturers and Third Party Advocacy Groups exposes the cozy financial relationships between the pharmaceutical industry and groups that assist pain sufferers.
President Trump’s pick to head up the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is getting a nod of approval from the nation’s oldest public health organization – despite his ties to an industry implicated in the current opioid crisis.
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.
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).
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.
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).
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.
A national survey conducted by the U.S. Pain Foundation, with support from McNeil Consumer Healthcare, has found that while nearly all consumers (97%) say they feel confident when choosing which over-the-counter (OTC) pain reliever to take, many disregard important safety factors that medical professionals say are critical to selecting which OTC pain reliever is most appropriate for their health profile.
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.
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.
