The Latest News from Our Field

Medications to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder do not increase children’s risk of substance abuse later in life if they start taking them early and for a long period, a new study suggests.

Cocaine and methamphetamine may impair a person’s moral judgment, suggests new research conducted on prison inmates.

Mixing alcohol with high-caffeine energy beverages may increase a person’s desire to continue drinking alcohol, according to a new study published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Following reports of 130 suspected overdoses linked to synthetic drugs in New York last week, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer introduced a bill that would ban 22 synthetic drugs.

A mental health reform bill passed earlier this month by the U.S. House would provide more hospital beds for people dealing with a mental illness who need short-term hospitalization. NBC News calls it one of the most significant mental health reform measures since 1963.

Rural health officials in Oklahoma, Colorado and Pennsylvania will receive $9 million to test a telemedicine program to train doctors in complex health issues such as opioid addiction.

Maine health officials are looking for more foster families to care for children whose parents are addicted to opioids, Maine Public Broadcasting reports.

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a bill aimed at combating opioid addiction. The White House said President Obama will sign the legislation, Reuters reports.

Two new studies suggest parents can play an important role in preventing teens from drinking, NPR reports.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles will study whether social media can help reduce opioid abuse in patients with chronic pain, according to Science.

Exploding e-cigarettes have led to dozens of lawsuits, The Wall Street Journal reports. Lawyers say the explosions are caused by cheaply made lithium-ion batteries.

A new technology allows patients to safely dispose of unwanted or expired prescription painkillers at home. Hooshang Shanehsaz, RPh, DPH, Director of Pharmacy at Cardinal Health, who co-directed a pilot study of the drug deactivation system, says patients found it easy to use.

State drug prescription monitoring programs help prevent 10 opioid-overdose deaths daily in the United States, a new study finds. Improvements in the programs could save another two people daily, the researchers said.

Doctors and drug companies share responsibility for the opioid crisis sweeping the nation, the head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy told USA Today.

A growing number of college students are trying to avoid alcohol-related weight gain through a practice known as “drunkorexia,” CBS News reports. Students skip meals, exercise heavily before drinking alcohol, take laxatives or diuretics, or vomit after drinking.

The rate of teens who use nicotine, through e-cigarettes or tobacco cigarettes, is increasing, a new study finds. Researchers say many teens who never would have smoked traditional cigarettes are now using e-cigarettes.

Doctors who in the past were only allowed to treat 100 patients at a time with the opioid addiction medication buprenorphine will now be able to treat up to 275 patients, Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell announced.

Pfizer, the world’s second-largest drug maker, has agreed to adhere to strict standards for marketing and promoting prescription opioids to treat common chronic pain conditions, such as arthritis and back pain.

Health insurance companies, facing an increase in claims for substance abuse treatment, are pushing for changes such as emphasizing medication-assisted treatment over abstinence, according to the Hartford Courant.

Doctors say they are finding it challenging to add the newly approved addiction treatment medicine Probuphine to their practice, WBEZ reports. They say they have to learn how to implant the drug in the upper arm of patients. They must also deal with new requirements.

Some doctors are voicing their opposition to new state laws that limit opioid prescribing. The American Medical Association and other medical groups say doctors and patients should be able to balance the need to treat pain against the risk of addiction, Stateline reports.

The number of deaths in the United States involving heroin more than tripled between 2010 and 2014, according to a new report by the Drug Enforcement Administration. The number of people reporting current heroin use nearly tripled between 2007 and 2014, the agency said.

Many disabled Medicare patients are still using prescription opioid painkillers despite the passage of state laws designed to control use of the drugs, HealthDay reports.

A new study suggests adults who were victims of sexual and/or physical abuse in childhood, or who witnessed chronic parental violence, are at greatly increased risk of substance use.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, June 24- Thursday, June 30, 2016.