Gloucester, MA – The opioid epidemic is a public health emergency. On average, 130 Americans die every day from opioid misuse according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). All Americans are affected by this problem. It may be the death of a family member from an overdose, the legal problems, or the […]
Rutgers Today – U.S. physicians are increasingly ordering medications for children for conditions that are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, according to a Rutgers study. The findings highlight the need for more education, research and policies addressing effective, safe pediatric drug prescribing. The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, analyzed data collected from 2006 to […]
Wash. Post – Drug dealers are turning to Facebook and other popular social media sites to peddle steroids, which are illegal without a prescription, raising more questions about whether the companies are properly policing their platforms. Those substances are being aggressively sold or marketed through posts and videos on sites including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and […]
Wash. Post – If you’ve ever had a cold that keeps you up at night coughing or painful urinary tract infections that recur regularly, you may have been tempted to simply help yourself to the antibiotics you’ve been storing since last year in your medicine cabinet. Or you might ask a friend or family member […]
FDA has learned that some ranitidine medicines, including some products commonly known as the brand-name Zantac, contain a nitrosamine impurity called N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) at low levels. NDMA—a known environmental contaminant and found in water and foods—is considered a probable human carcinogen. FDA has been investigating NDMA and other nitrosamine impurities in angiotensin II receptor blockers […]
The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy® (NABP®) announces the launch of www.safe.pharmacy as an NABP-branded site featuring consumer-oriented information . Consumers will find information on preventing prescription drug abuse, how to safely use medication, how boards of pharmacy and pharmacists can serve as resources, and where to find permanent drug disposal locations.
The Alliance for Aging Research is hosting a webinar to discuss a recent survey distributed to primary care physicians and nurse practitioners that found that vaccine discussions as part of prevention planning are a low priority at the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit; and, that more education is needed to overcome patient awareness barriers. Read more…
SAMHSA has released the latest data findings from the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). NSDUH provides estimates of the use of illegal substances, prescription drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, as well as mental disorders, treatment, and co-occurring substance use and mental disorders in the United States. Read more…
AAOA has partnered with HealthyWomen and launched the AAOA-HealthyWomen Toolkit to underscore the seriousness of the country’s prescription opioid abuse epidemic on families across the country and offers actionable steps for women — who make the majority of the healthcare decisions in the home — to take to ensure opioid medications are secured and out of reach […]
About a third of children in the United States use dietary supplements, according to a nationally representative survey of American children and adolescents. Between 2004 and 2014, participants’ use of herbal and nonvitamin supplements nearly doubled, from 3.7 percent to 6.7 percent in 2013-2014. Read more…