Category: Opioid
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ProAssurance and Sure Med Compliance Join to Fight Opioid Crisis
BIRMINGHAM ─ ProAssurance Corporation has announced an exclusive affiliation with Sure Med Compliance® (SMC) to promote the use of SMC’s Care Continuity Program® (CCP) in an effort to help combat the opioid epidemic in the United States. ProAssurance-insured physicians will be eligible for discounted access to Sure Med’s Care Continuity Program The CCP helps physicians…
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Study: Doctors Reduced Opioid Prescriptions after Learning a Patient Overdosed
Will clinicians become more careful in prescribing opioids if they are made of aware of the risks of these drugs first-hand? That was one of the core questions researchers set out to explore in a new study published in the August 2018 issue of Science. In doing so, they found that many clinicians do not learn…
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Reducing Opioid Prescriptions for One Operation Can Have a Spillover Effect to Other Procedures
Study results show revised recommendations resulted in about 17 fewer pills being dispensed per patient for four major operations. CHICAGO – To curb the use of opioids after major elective operations and prevent these pain relievers from falling into the wrong hands, surgeons at the University of Michigan developed prescribing recommendations based on published medical…
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What’s at Stake for Medical Professionals in “Pill Mill” Investigations
In an earlier article, I detailed how the DOJ has focused its attention on the aggressive investigation and prosecution of “pill mill” cases. In this article, I discuss the consequences physicians and other medical professionals potentially face as a result of a “pill mill” investigation. CRIMINAL PROSECUTION A litany of criminal charges can be heaped…
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Special Report: Physician Leadership is Boosting War on Opioids
MONTGOMERY – According to a new report by the American Medical Association, physicians have taken the lead in the nation’s battle on opioids by lowering the number of opioid prescriptions they write, making better use of state prescription drug monitoring programs, becoming better trained and certified in the use of opioid use disorders, and in…
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FDA Classifies Kratom as Opioid
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has officially classified the plant kratom, originally seen as an opioid alternative, as an opioid itself, stating that compounds in kratom act like prescription-strength opioids. Found in Malaysia, the leaves of the kratom plant are traditionally crushed and made into a tea to treat pain as well as heroin…
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State of Alabama Files Lawsuit Against Purdue Pharma
MONTGOMERY – The State of Alabama has joined other states in filing a complaint against opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma, LP, one of the largest opioid manufacturers in the country. The complaint alleges Purdue’s marketing of these drugs contributed to the creation of the opioid epidemic in Alabama. The lawsuit comes on the heels of a…
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Alabama Opioid Overdose and Addiction Council Issues Formal Report
MONTGOMERY — Co-chairs of the Alabama Opioid Overdose and Addiction Council, Attorney General Steve Marshall, Commissioner Lynn Beshear of the Alabama Department of Mental Health, and Acting State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris, announced the issuance of the Council’s formal report of its findings. The Council was created in August 2017 by an executive order…
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New Research Shows Americans with Mental Illness use Opioids at Alarming Levels
More than half of all opioid medications distributed each year in the United States are prescribed to adults with mental illness — patients diagnosed with depression and anxiety — according to new research by Dartmouth-Hitchcock and the University of Michigan. The study, published in the July issue of the Journal of the American Board of…