Benzodiazepines, a group of sedatives that include medications like Valium, Xanax and Ativan, have been prescribed for half a century. But when combined with opioids, the results can be lethal.
Tag: opioid
‘Even at a billion, it would be an investment that is well worth it,’ U.S. calls for more opioid antidotes
Prescribing naloxone along with opioids forces a conversation that will lead to ‘a more informed decision by the patient,’ U.S. health assistant secretary says.
Did Free Pens Cause the Opioid Crisis?
Chiara Zarmati Early in Dopesick, a book examining how Purdue Pharma helped addict an alarming number of Americans to opioids, Beth Macy writes about the army of drug reps who pushed the painkiller OxyContin. In its approach to sales, Macy shows, Purdue was scientific. Using information purchased from a data-mining firm, the company determined which […]
Canadian doctors urge caution after FDA approves controversial new opioid pill
After the FDA’s controversial approval of a pill form of sufentanil for use in U.S. hospitals and on the battlefield, Canadian doctors say the risks of the oral medication could outweigh the benefits in the midst of the ongoing opioid crisis.
How moms and babies rooming together can help combat opioid dependency
Canada’s opioid crisis extends to society’s very youngest: About 2,000 newborns are born with opioid exposure. But more and more, hospitals are trying to minimize the impact this has on new mothers and their babies, but allowing them to stay together in same room as they undergo treatment.
Canadian researchers take scalpel to opioid prescribing for surgical patients
When doctors in study reduced the amount of narcotics they prescribed after outpatient surgeries and used other options, they found patients didn’t need more.
Life expectancy in Canada may be decreasing as opioid crisis rages on
In an annual report on the state of public health in Canada, the country’s chief public health officer said that for many years, life expectancy has been “steadily increasing.” But the opioid crisis is expected to stop that progress in its tracks.
On top of the grief, there’s the shame: families of victims frustrated with stigma of opioid use
In 2017, 569 people in Alberta died of accidental fentanyl poisoning. Daryl Sen was one of them.
Opioid crisis coupled with doctor shortage leaves chronic pain patients desperate
In northwestern Ontario where thousands of people don’t have a primary care provider, patients taking painkillers often aren’t at the top of family doctors’ waiting lists.
Doctor questions ‘disgraceful’ care provided by private, high-volume methadone clinics amid opioid crisis
As a northern Ontario city battles an opioid overdose death rate that’s twice as high as the provincial average, there is rising concern about a treatment model dominated by for-profit methadone clinics.
