Both the Canadian Paediatric Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend opioids be considered for short-term pain if acetaminophen and ibuprofen are inadequate.
(Shutterstock)
No parent wants to see their child suffer and untreated pain can have health consequences. But parents may have concerns about use of opioids for their child’s acute pain. Here are tips for safer use.
Certain SSRIs can inhibit the breakdown of opioids in the body.
Glasshouse Images/The Image Bank via Getty Images
Drugs can interact with one another in ways that are harmful. A study finds that taking oxycodone with certain SSRIs can make an opioid overdose more likely.
OxyContin, an opioid drug heavily marketed by Purdue Pharma, is associated with billions of dollars of health-care costs in Canada related to the opioid crisis.
(AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
The Purdue Pharma settlement is paltry compared to costs of the opioid crisis. Without major changes to pharma industry regulation, there is little reason to think a similar crisis won’t occur again.
We researched how much difference opioids like codeine, oxycodone or morphine make to osteoarthritis pain. We found they helped about as much as paracetamol. Yet they are far more dangerous.
One potential way to make opioids less addictive is to make them target injured tissue rather than the healthy brain.
PM Images/Photodisk via Getty Images
While the COVID-19 pandemic raged on, the opioid epidemic got worse as drug overdose deaths soared. New research proposes a way to chemically modify opioids to reduce the risk of addiction.
Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen announced a settlement between the Justice Department and opioid maker Purdue on Oct. 21.
Yuri Gripas/Pool via AP
A person dies of opioid overdose once every 13 minutes in the US. A researcher proposes a way using existing technology to remove the opioid target in people to prevent overdoses.
The way opioid drugs were marketed to doctors may have contributed to the opioid crisis.
AP Photo/Mark Lennihan
Tao Che, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Scientists have taken atomic resolution snapshots of an opioid receptor interacting with a drug. Now they are using these images to design “biased” opioids that block pain without the dangerous side effects.
Thousands of people are dying every year of opioid-related overdoses, in an epidemic that traces its roots to 1996 and the introduction of the prescription drug OxyContin. Here, prescription opioids are shown in Toronto during 2017.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy
Prescription drugs are policed by industry and Health Canada has never prosecuted a drug company for illegally marketing a drug.
As North America’s opioid crisis worsens, schools across Canada are purchasing naloxone anti-overdose kits. Research suggests that risks of opioid addiction could also be addressed through attention to children’s nutrition.
(Shutterstock)
High fructose corn syrup in food and drinks has long been linked to rising rates of child and teen obesity. New evidence suggests it increases the risks of opioid addiction and overdose too.