The family of a 50 year old Nevada municipal court judge who died in 2016 with a toxic level of the powerful painkiller fentanyl in her system has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the pain specialist who supplied her with the drug. The lawsuit, filed by the family of Judge Diana Hampton, alleges that…
A recent study published in Canada has found a link between prescriptions for opioid painkillers and a risk of a fatal fentanyl overdose. According to the study, 60% of patients who suffered a fatal fentanyl overdose had been prescribed opioids within the last year.
A new study published by the Yale School of Medicine has found that the number of children and teenagers hospitalized for an opioid painkiller overdose has tripled over recent years. This alarming rise in the number of accidental overdoses caused by opioid drugs is part of a growing trend of adverse health consequences caused by…
An Illinois federal judge says that a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of former NHL hockey player Derek Boogaard against the league will be allowed to move forward. Boogaard spent six years in the NHL as an “enforcer” for the New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild before his death from a painkiller overdose…
The Drug Enforcement Administration has announced that it will lower the volume of opioid painkillers that can be manufactured in the U.S. next year. The DEA announcement will reduce the agency’s 2017 quota for the production of prescription painkillers by 25% from this year’s quota.
Pfizer has announced that it will issue a written code of conduct detailing the risk of addiction and long-term use posed by prescription opioid painkillers. The drugmaker agreed to publish the code of conduct as part of an agreement with the City of Chicago that will end the company’s involvement in a lawsuit filed two…
A new study conducted by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College suggests that monitoring the number of painkiller prescriptions written by doctors may be an effective means of helping to curb the epidemic of opioid overprescription in the U.S. According to the study published in the journal Health Affairs, states that passed laws to monitor opioid…
A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel has unanimously voted to recommend mandatory training for doctors who prescribe opioid painkillers in order to help curb the epidemic of opioid overprescription in the U.S. The advisory panel’s recommendations would involve a complete overhaul of the current system for educating doctors and patients about the dangers of…
The Food and Drug Administration has announced that it will require the manufacturers of prescription opioid painkillers to add a black box warning to these medications. The new warnings—the toughest ever issued by the FDA regarding opioids—are designed to alert doctors and patients about the dangers of misuse, abuse, addiction, overdose, and death associated with…
A new study has found that patients who are treated with opioid painkillers for longer than one month face an increased risk of depression. Although pain itself can increase a patient’s risk of depression, researchers found that the link between pain and opioid use was still present even when they accounted for the potential role…
A shocking new study has found that more than nine out of 10 patients who suffered a non-fatal opioid overdose were prescribed opioid painkillers again, often by the same doctor who had treated them before their overdose. The study highlights growing concerns about the role that physicians who improperly write painkiller prescriptions play in the…
A new study has found that the majority of U.S. general practitioners are responsible for the epidemic of opioid painkiller overprescription in this country. The Stanford University School of Medicine study contradicts the findings of earlier research that blamed a few bad apple physicians who ran “pill mills” as the source of the high rates…