Latest Prescription Drug Take-Back Day Yields 50% More Pills Than Previous Event

By Join Together Staff | May 6, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Government, Prescription Drugs & Prevention

Fifty percent more pills were collected during the latest National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, compared with the previous event in 2012, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced.

The agency said 742,497 pounds of prescription medications were collected from almost 6,000 sites around the country on April 27, UPI reports. More than 2.8 million pounds of prescription medications have been removed from circulation during the six national take-back days the DEA has sponsored.

The events are designed to provide a safe, convenient and responsible way for people to dispose of their unwanted or expired medications, while educating the public about the potential for abuse of prescription drugs.

According to the 2011 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health, twice as many Americans regularly abused prescription drugs than the number of those who regularly used cocaine, hallucinogens, heroin, and inhalants combined, the DEA noted in a news release. More than 70 percent of people abusing prescription pain relievers say they obtained them through friends or relatives, including the family medicine cabinet.

Teen Girls May Have a Harder Time Quitting Methamphetamine, Study Suggests

By Join Together Staff | May 2, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Drugs, Research, Treatment & Youth

Teenage girls may have a more difficult time than boys in quitting methamphetamine, a new study suggests.

The study by researchers at UCLA found girls are more likely to continue using methamphetamine during treatment. They say the findings indicate the need for new treatment approaches for girls addicted to meth, HealthCanal reports.

The study included nine boys and 10 girls, whose average age was 17 ½. All were addicted to meth and were receiving counseling. They were treated with either bupropion (an antidepressant and smoking cessation drug) or a placebo. Teens given bupropion provided significantly fewer meth-free urine samples compared with teens given a placebo, suggesting the drug is not an effective treatment for meth addiction. Boys in both groups provided more than twice as many meth-free urine samples as girls.

“The greater severity of methamphetamine problems in adolescent girls compared to boys, combined with results of studies in adults that also found women to be more susceptible to methamphetamine than men, suggests that the gender differences in methamphetamine addiction observed in adults may actually begin in adolescence,” study author Dr. Keith Heinzerling said in a news release.

The findings appear in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

FDA Asks For Additional Data on Implant to Treat Opioid Addiction

By Join Together Staff | May 2, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Addiction, Drugs, Government, Prescription Drugs & Treatment

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week asked for more information on an implant designed to treat opioid addiction, before making a decision on whether to approve the drug, according to Bloomberg News.

Probuphine is a long-acting version of the opioid dependence medication buprenorphine. It is implanted under the skin of the upper arm, in a procedure that takes about 10 to 15 minutes in a doctor’s office. It remains in place for about six months. The FDA asked for more information on the effect of higher doses of Probuphine, and on how doctors would be trained to insert and remove the implant.

In March, an advisory panel to the FDA recommended the agency approve Probuphine, made by Titan Pharmaceuticals, but voiced concerns about the safety of the manufacturer’s marketing plan.

Members of the panel said they were concerned about the safety of the company’s marketing plan, because of the potential for abuse of the drug. They also said they were not convinced the intended dose of Probuphine would be effective enough.

Doctors must be trained to implant the drug, and some of the FDA advisors said they were concerned Titan had not adequately planned for the training.

Sleep Medications Linked to Jump in Emergency Room Visits

By Join Together Staff | May 2, 2013 | 1 Comment | Filed in Prescription Drugs

The key ingredient in sleep medications such as Ambien has been linked to a 220 percent jump in emergency room visits between 2005 and 2010, according to a new government report. The ingredient, zolpidem, is also found in sleep aids including Eldular and Zolpimist, CBS News reports.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reports there were 6,111 visits due to the medication in 2005. That number rose to 19,487 visits in 2010, according to the report. Three-quarters of patients were 45 or older.

Half of emergency room visits due to zolpidem involved another substance. In 37 percent of visits, zolpidem was combined with another drug that depresses the central nervous system.

“Although short-term sleeping medications can help patients, it is exceedingly important that they be carefully used and monitored,” SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde said in a news release. “Physicians and patients need to be aware of the potential adverse reactions associated with any medication, and work closely together to prevent or quickly address any problems that may arise.”

Zolpidem is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat short-term insomnia, the article notes. In January, the FDA announced it is requiring drug makers to lower current recommended doses of sleep medications containing zolpidem. “New data show that zolpidem blood levels in some patients may be high enough the morning after use to impair activities that require alertness, including driving,” the FDA noted in a statement.

Georgia Institutes New Pain Clinic Rules to Reduce Prescription Drug Abuse

By Join Together Staff | May 3, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Community Related, Legislation, Prescription Drugs & Prevention

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has signed a law that requires pain clinics to be licensed by the state medical board, and new clinics to be owned by physicians. The measure is designed to reduce prescription drug abuse, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The law, which goes into effect July 1, states pain clinics must register every two years or face possible felony indictments. Georgia’s medical board can deny licensing to a pain clinic for reasons including the owner’s prior criminal conviction related to controlled substances, the article notes.

The number of pain clinics jumped in Georgia from 10 in 2010, to 140 the following year, after Florida cracked down on its own “pill mills.” Georgia is the ninth state to require that pain clinics be doctor-owned. Alabama and Indiana are considering similar measures.

Georgia’s prescription-drug monitoring program, aimed at catching people who obtain pain prescriptions from multiple physicians (known as “doctor shopping”), will launch in mid-June. Funding for the program is not guaranteed past this fall, the newspaper states.

In March, a report issued by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement found the number of deaths due to oxycodone decreased by 29 percent in the state in the first six months of 2012, compared with the second half of the previous year. The report provides evidence Florida is successfully fighting the prescription drug abuse epidemic, officials said.

New Jersey Governor Signs Good Samaritan Overdose Law

By Join Together Staff | May 3, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Community Related, Drugs & Legislation

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Thursday signed into law a measure that encourages people to report drug overdoses. The law allows people to call 911 to report a drug overdose, without the fear of getting arrested for drug possession themselves.

Governor Christie was joined by singer Jon Bon Jovi for the signing of the law. Bon Jovi’s daughter overdosed at her college dorm in upstate New York last year, but survived. Prosecutors dropped drug charges against her and another student under that state’s Good Samaritan overdose-reporting law, according to the Associated Press.

“What we now have is a comprehensive law we can all be proud of for what it can achieve, the saving of a life to provide the opportunity for individuals, their families, friends and those Good Samaritans involved to reflect on their experience in a way that they probably would have never reflected upon it before,” Christie said in a statement. “A life saved from drug abuse can be a life restored. Families can be spared the anguish of loss, a loss that could have been prevented.”

After signing the law, Governor Christie and Bon Jovi visited with patients at a drug rehabilitation center.

The governor rejected the Good Samaritan Emergency Response Act last fall, saying it was too focused on reporting drug overdoses, instead of deterrence. On Monday, he partially vetoed a bill that makes the overdose antidote naloxone available to spouses, parents and guardians of people addicted to opioid. They would be taught to administer the drug in an emergency. He recommended that measure be combined with the key components of the Good Samaritan bill that protects witnesses and victims from arrest, charge, prosecution, conviction, or revocation of parole or probation, where evidence is obtained as a result of seeking medical assistance.

The state Senate and House both overwhelmingly approved the compromise bill.