Massachusetts currently leads the nation in decreasing opioids prescription, according to a Blue Cross Blue Shield report cited by The Boston Herald.  By Harrison Cook - 7/16/18

Jon O'Brian, executive director of Keystone Contractors Association, which represents commercial construction workers across Pennsylvania, created an opioid awareness campaign after learning many young apprentices were overdosing on heroin, according The Morning Call.  By Harrison Cook - 7/16/18

In the ever-growing slew of opioid alternative pain management strategies, art therapy shows promise in modifying emotional and physical pain-related problems, according to Harvard Health Publishing.  By Harrison Cook - 7/13/18

"Privacy must be considered in any meaningful discussion about sharing medical records," however, "prejudice against people with opioid and other substance use disorders can lead to job loss and rupture of important relationships," writes Melissa Stein, MD, medical director of Bronx, N.Y.-based Montefiore Health System's Division of Substance Abuse, in an opinion piece for STAT.  By Harrison Cook - 7/13/18

New York recently allowed medical marijuana to be used as an alternative to prescribed opioids to combat the opioid epidemic, according to Iohud.  By Harrison Cook - 7/13/18

Chicago licensed approximately 1,500 pharmaceutical representatives due to a citywide ordinance that aims to to slow down over-prescription practices, according to Chicago Sun Times.  By Harrison Cook - 7/13/18

Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl contribute to half of all opioid overdoses in the U.S., according to a July 11 Health Alert Network warning from the CDC.  By Harrison Cook - 7/12/18

Opioid abuse diagnoses declined 5 percent in 2017, according to a report Blue Cross Blue Shield Association released July 12.  By Harrison Cook - 7/12/18

In a JAMA Surgery-published study of 34,186 surgical patients, 23.1 percent reported preoperative opioid use.  By Anuja Vaidya - 7/12/18

Opioid misuse and overdoses are rising at an alarming rate. The crisis is due in part to wider use of prescription opioids, despite the risk for addiction and lack of evidence about long-term effectiveness to treat pain. It will require a comprehensive response from many stakeholders to stem the tide of the devastation from opioid abuse.  By Staff - 7/12/18

Cardinal Health, McKesson Corp. and AmerisourceBergen distributed 1.6B opioids in Missouri between 2012 and 2017, which equates to about 260 pills per resident, according to an investigative report Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., released July 11.  By Harrison Cook - 7/12/18

More than 750 CVS storefronts nationwide will carry deposit containers for unused opioid prescriptions, according to The Baltimore Sun.  By Harrison Cook - 7/12/18

  Ohio physicians are still prescribing too many opioids to residents, despite the implementation of opioid-limiting legislation, according to a new report from The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  By Harrison Cook - 7/11/18

Ohio will give Elysium Therapeutics $3 million in funding to develop a new class of opioids that cannot be abused, according to The Inquirer.  By Harrison Cook - 7/10/18

U.S. mortality rates for Americans ages 25 to 34 has  increase every year since an initial spike in 2010 due to opioid overdose-related deaths, according to federal data cited by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.     By Harrison Cook - 7/10/18

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin created an opioid-free painkiller that works by targeting receptors on immune cells, according to a study published July 5 in The Journal of Neuroscience.  By Harrison Cook - 7/10/18

Twenty-eight states have created laws and policies limiting the prescription of opioids to patients. For some individuals with chronic pain, these types of restrictions are more crippling than curative, according to NPR.  By Harrison Cook - 7/9/18

Here are 10 stories Becker's Hospital Review published on pain management, opioid addiction and the current epidemic, starting with the most recent.  By Harrison Cook - 7/5/18

Physicians consider buprenorphine a crucial drug to fight opioid withdrawal symptoms. While the drug has increased in popularity amid the ongoing opioid epidemic, buprenorphine poses a poisoning risk to children, according to research cited by Healthline.  By Harrison Cook - 7/5/18

At the height of the opioid epidemic, EMTs and paramedics have become the first point for help with opioid overdose victims unwilling or unable to seek treatment, according to Pensacola News Journal.  By Harrison Cook - 7/5/18