Drug Overdose

While many programs aimed at prescription drug abuse focus on how to stop diversion of medications, an often overlooked but critical issue is preventing and treating opioid overdoses, according to a Brown University researcher.

For more than one-third of Texas’ Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who died after leaving the military, the cause was a drug overdose, a deadly combination of drugs, or suicide, according to an investigation by the Austin American-Statesman.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has described the country’s sharp rise in overdoses over the last decade from prescription painkillers, or opioids, as an epidemic. But it can be easy to lose sight of what “epidemic” truly means.

A new study links “doctor shopping” with an increased risk of dying from an overdose of prescription drugs, HealthDay reports.

A new study finds elevated rates of suicides and overdose deaths in the month after people have been released from the hospital for substance abuse treatment. Researchers found death rates were substantially higher for those who had been out of the hospital for less than one month, compared with those who had been out for at least one year.

Naloxone, the drug carried by ambulances to reverse overdoses, is also available in some states to be administered by trained members of the general public who might be present when an overdose occurs. Many lives have been saved by bystanders, and increasingly, notice is being taken of community-based naloxone distribution, says Dr. Sharon Stancliff of the Harm Reduction Coalition.

Advocates around the nation are pushing for state laws that give people limited immunity on drug possession charges if they seek medical help for someone suffering from an overdose, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

A physician accused of prescribing drugs to three young men who died of overdoses was ordered to stand trial for second-degree murder, the Associated Press reports.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says distributing the opioid overdose antidote naloxone should be considered as a way to curb the increase in overdose deaths, Time reports.

The opioid-overdose antidote naloxone is being more widely distributed to people who use drugs, according to the Associated Press. While many public health officials say it saves lives, critics argue that making the antidote easily available could make people less likely to seek treatment.

A potential cocaine overdose treatment has shown promise in a study of mice, according to the Los Angeles Times. The researchers said the findings could lead to human clinical trials.

A program in Philadelphia that supplies the opioid overdose antidote naloxone to people addicted to drugs, their spouses and other laypeople, and trains them in how to use it, is saving lives, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

A recent study that found soaring hospitalization rates for combined drug and alcohol overdoses among young adults suggests doctors could play a pivotal role in educating the public about the dangers of combining these substances, says the study’s author.

A new campaign, “Safe Storage, Safe Dosing, Safe Kids,” aims to reduce accidental poisonings of children from medications.

Widely distributing the opioid overdose antidote naloxone, and training people in how to use it, could save many lives, suggests a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.

One person dies every 19 minutes from prescription drug abuse in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A new government program aims to protect young children from accidental drug overdoses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the “Up and Away and Out of Sight” program, to teach parents how to keep medications out of the hands of young children.

The nasal-inhaled drug naloxone (Narcan) has been used to reverse more than 1,000 opiate overdoses in Massachusetts in the past four years, according to the Boston Globe.

Government researchers report a dramatic jump in the number of hospitalizations for overdoses caused by drugs and alcohol among 18- to 24-year-olds.

A new “911 Good Samaritan Law” took effect in New York State on September 18. The law encourages people to call 911 if they experience or see a drug or alcohol overdose, without fear of being charged with possessing small amounts of drugs.

Deaths caused by drugs have topped traffic-related deaths, an analysis by the Los Angeles Times concludes.

A growing number of children in the United States are being accidentally poisoned when they swallow prescription drugs, a new study finds.

Children who are exposed to medication through family members’ transdermal patches are at risk of overdose, experts warn.

Johnson & Johnson’s recent announcement that the company plans to lower the maximum dose for Extra Strength Tylenol highlights the potential overdose dangers of over-the-counter drugs, experts say.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed a law designed to reduce preventable overdose deaths by encouraging people to call 911 if they witness a drug overdose, without fear of being arrested for drug possession.