By Joanna Lyford, Senior medwireNews Reporter
The number of deaths from drug overdoses in the United States in 2010 rose for the 11th consecutive year, show data from the National Center for Health Statistics.

The majority of these deaths involved pharmaceuticals, particularly opioid analgesics and benzodiazepines; worryingly, most deaths were unintended.

"Tools such as prescription drug monitoring programs and electronic health records can help clinicians to identify risky medication use and inform treatment decisions, especially for opioids and benzodiazepines," suggest Christopher Jones (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA) and co-authors. » More

Drug overdose deaths increase for 11th consecutive year

Written by Press Release
Atlanta, GA--(ENEWSPF)--February 20, 2013. Drug overdose deaths increased for the 11th consecutive year in 2010, according to an analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The findings are published today in a research letter, “Pharmaceutical Overdose Deaths, United States, 2010,” in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

CDC’s analysis shows that 38,329 people died from a drug overdose in the United States in 2010, up from 37,004 deaths in 2009. This continues the steady rise in overdose deaths seen over the past 11 years, starting with 16,849 deaths in 1999. Overdose deaths involving opioid analgesics have shown a similar increase. Starting with 4,030 deaths in 1999, the number of deaths increased to 15,597 in 2009 and 16,651 in 2010. » More

By Keith Humphreys
Overdose from prescription opioids (e.g., Oxycodone or Hydrocodone) has become one of the most common causes of accidental death in the United States. Two new articles in BMJ suggest that overdose is not the only risk about which patients, prescribers and policy makers should be concerned.

Khademi and colleagues conducted a prospective study of a cohort of 50,045 Iranians. They followed up over 99 percent of the sample and then assessed the impact of opium use on mortality. After statistically adjusting for cigarette smoking, education, age and other factors, the research team reported that opium use nearly doubled the risk of death. The number of diseases with increased incidence among opium users was large, and included tuberculosis, cancer and COPD. The results held even when the researchers excluded from analysis individuals who started using opium in response to the onset of a chronic illness.  » More

By Deanna Pan

Something was wrong with Cole.

On a Saturday afternoon in mid-February 2011, Danielle Smoot walked into her 16-year-old son’s bedroom and found him curled under his New England Patriots bedspread.

Cole was a kid who could sleep until dinnertime if he wanted, but with school Monday through Friday, wrestling meets on Saturdays and church on Sundays, he hadn’t had much opportunity for that since winter break.  » More

By Lindsay Melvin - Scripps Howard News Service
University of Memphis student Sarah Harrison doesn't indulge in other people's prescription drugs, but she knows plenty of college kids who do.

Making her way across campus on a rainy afternoon, the junior said, "I mean, anyone can get it, and if you don't have it, someone will sell it to you."

Harrison is referring to Adderall, a widely prescribed drug for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.  » More

By Joe Rojas-Burke, The Oregonian
Oregon's rate of use of opiates without a prescription is the second highest in the U.S. after Oklahoma. A recent federal study suggests that Oregon doctors' greater willingness to prescribe opioid pain relievers may partly explain the state's exceptionally high rate of abuse. It found that rates of use without a prescription ranged from lows of 3.6 percent in Nebraska and Iowa, to highs of 6.8 percent in Oregon and 8.1 percent in Oklahoma. Legal sales ranged from less than 4 kilograms per 10,000 people in Illinois to more than 11 kilograms in Oregon, Tennessee, Nevada and Florida. » More