Drug News

METHADONE – USA
Misuse of Narcotics May Call for Additional Doctor Training – Pharmaceutical Technology Magazine

The US Food and Drug Administration may soon ask doctors to undergo special training to be able to prescribe powerful narcotics, Dr. Bob Rappaport told The New York Times last week.

METHADONE – USA
Doctors and Narcotics-More Training, Please – Pharmaceutical Technology Magazine

More recent drugs of choice for thrill-seekers or drug abusers include methadone and fentanyl, both opium-based drugs. But these medications, officially referred to as controlled dangerous substances, are also being improperly prescribed in some cases, leading, in part, to an increase in deaths and serious side effects.

ADDICTION – UK
Unit opens to help patients with addictions – Evening Times

A NEW unit to support people with drink and drug problems in Glasgow has opened, promising better care for people who need intensive support but not full-time hospital care.

ALCOHOL – UK
BMA Scotland response to the Scottish Government’s proposed strategy to tackle alcohol misuse – BMA Scotland

Doctors today (Wednesday 20 August 2008) called for action, not words, to tackle alcohol misuse in Scotland.

RITALIN – AUSTRALIA
Medical experts expose ADHD misdiagnoses – The Daily Telegraph

The alarming figure comes as a leading psychologist warned there was no evidence of the long-term benefits of medication such as Ritalin.

RITALIN – AUSTRALIA
Children misdiagnosed with ADHD – Adelaide Now

AT LEAST one in three Australian children is misdiagnosed with ADHD when they may have something much simpler like learning difficulties, a leading child psychiatrist has said.

ADDICTION – USA
Addiction Epidemic Among Bay Area Teens – KTVU News
Addiction specialists say a disturbing trend has overtaken teenagers, especially those in affluent communities such as Marin County. It is addiction to pharmaceutical opiates, painkillers, including Vicodin, Percocet and especially the more powerful Oxycontin.

PRESCSRIPTION – USA
FDA Considers Training Docs to Prescribe Narcotics – Join Together

Amid growing reports of patient deaths and complications caused by problems with legally prescribed pain medication, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is discussing the possibility of requiring doctors to receive specialized training before prescribing narcotics.

ALCOHOL – USA
Latino Parents Urged to Counteract Effects of Targeted Alcohol Ads – Join Together

With Latino/Latina youths viewing a disproportionately high number of alcohol ads compared with other young people, parents need to have open discussions with their children so they will delay drinking.

MORPHINE – CANADA
More breastfed babies at risk of morphine overdose than thought: study – CBC

Nursing mothers who use painkillers that contain codeine could be putting their infants at risk of a deadly overdose, Canadian doctors warn.

CODEINE – USA
Codeine Not Safe For All Breastfeeding Moms And Their Babies – Science Daily

Lead author Dr. Gideon Koren published research in the journal, Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics which suggests that the codeine used in some pain relief drugs can actually have harmful and even fatal results for infants when ingested by some breastfeeding mothers.