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Thursday, October 23, 2014
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Synthetic Marijuana-Related ER Visits More Than Doubled in One Year
October 21st, 2014/
A new government report finds emergency rooms visits related to synthetic marijuana more than doubled between 2010 and 2011, HealthDay reports.
Synthetic marijuana, also known as “K2” or “Spice,” is especially dangerous because there is a widespread misconception these drugs are safe and legal, according to Pamela Hyde, Administrator at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). “These injury reports compel us to get the word out to all segments of the community — especially youth — that these products can cause significant harm,” she noted in a news release.
Emergency rooms reported more than 28,500 visits linked to synthetic marijuana in 2011, up from 11,400 in 2010, according to the report. Among teens ages 12 to 17, the number of visits linked to synthetic marijuana rose from about 3,800 to nearly 7,600 during that year. Among young adults ages 18 to 20, ER visits linked to synthetic marijuana rose from about 2,000 to more than 8,000.
Short-term effects of synthetic marijuana include loss of control, lack of pain response, increased agitation, pale skin, seizures, vomiting, profuse sweating, uncontrolled/spastic body movements, elevated blood pressure, heart rate and palpitations. The drug takes effect in three to five minutes, and the high lasts from one to eight hours. In addition to physical signs of use, users may experience severe paranoia, delusions, hallucinations and increased agitation. Its long-term effects are unknown.
The Synthetic Drug Prevention Act of 2012 specifically prohibits the sale or possession of some types of synthetic marijuana. The Drug Enforcement Administration and nearly all states have also taken some regulatory action against these products once they have been identified, according to SAMHSA. “However manufacturers of these compounds continue to modify their chemical structures in an attempt to evade current laws,” the agency notes.
Buprenorphine Better Than Detox For Prescription Drug Addiction Treatment: Study
October 21st, 2014/
Buprenorphine maintenance therapy is more effective than detoxification for patients being treated for prescription opioid dependence, a new study finds. The researchers, from Yale University, said primary care doctors do not have evidence-based guidelines to decide between the two treatments.
The researchers conducting the 14-week study followed 113 patients with prescription opioid dependence, Health Canal reports. The patients in the detox group received six weeks of stable doses of buprenorphine followed by three weeks of tapering doses, while patients in the maintenance group received ongoing buprenorphine therapy. All patients received physician and nurse support and drug counseling for 14 weeks.
Patients in the detox group tested positive for illicit opioid use more frequently than those in the buprenorphine maintenance group, lead researcher Dr. David Fiellin reported inJAMA Internal Medicine. Maintenance group members were also less likely to use illicit opioids. Few patients in the detox group stayed in treatment or were able to abstain from using opioids after they stopped taking buprenorphine.
“For prescription opioid dependence, buprenorphine detoxification is less effective than ongoing maintenance treatment, and increases the risk of overdose and other adverse events,” Fiellin said in a news release.
“It is very common for patients seeking treatment to request detoxification,” he added. “They want to be off of everything as soon as possible as opposed to considering long-term treatment, but unfortunately there’s no quick fix for the disease. The majority of patients will do better if they receive ongoing maintenance treatment.”
New Label for Opioid Painkiller Embeda Will Say Drug Has Abuse-Deterrent Features
October 21st, 2014/
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved new labeling for the opioid painkiller Embeda that states the drug has abuse-deterrent features, the Associated Pressreports.
The label will indicate Embeda has properties expected to reduce abuse of the drug when it is crushed and taken orally or snorted, the article notes. The drug can still be misused if it is swallowed intact.
Embeda contains morphine and naltrexone, and comes in extended-release capsules. It is approved to treat pain that is severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term opioid treatment, and for which other treatment options are not sufficient, according to aFDA news release. When taken properly, the drug releases only the morphine in the capsule. When the capsule is crushed, the naltrexone blocks some of the euphoric effects of the morphine, and can cause withdrawal in people who are dependent on opioids.
The FDA noted it is not known whether the abuse-deterrent properties of the drug will lead to a reduction in people who abuse the drug intravenously.
“Preventing prescription opioid abuse and ensuring that patients have access to appropriate treatments for pain are both top public health priorities for the FDA,” said Sharon Hertz, MD, Acting Director of the Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia, and Addiction Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “The science behind developing prescription opioids with abuse-deterrent properties is still evolving and these properties will not completely fix the problem. But they can be part of a comprehensive approach to combat the very serious problem of prescription drug abuse in the U.S.”
The FDA is requiring Pfizer to conduct postmarketing studies of Embeda to further assess the effects of the abuse-deterrent features of the drug.
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