Opioid

Amid a rising sea of addictions to prescription painkillers, Massachusetts' largest health insurer is launching a policy to curb abuse by significantly limiting the amount of pain medication most patients can receive without prior approval from the insurer. The program by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, scheduled to start July 1, will allow patients to fill a 15-day prescription and one additional 15-day supply of the most common opioid drugs, such as Percocet and Vicodin, before the insurer hits the pause button.

Amid a rising sea of addictions to prescription painkillers, Massachusetts' largest health insurer is launching a policy to curb abuse by significantly limiting the amount of pain medication most patients can receive without prior approval from the insurer. The program by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, scheduled to start July 1, will allow patients to fill a 15-day prescription and one additional 15-day supply of the most common opioid drugs, such as Percocet and Vicodin, before the insurer hits the pause button.

NEW YORK - The Food and Drug Administration has approved the sale of CombinatoRx Inc.’s extended-release pain drug Exalgo, the Cambridge, Mass., company reported yesterday. Exalgo is intended to treat moderate to severe pain in patients who require treatment with opioid painkillers for an extended period of time. CombinatoRx developed the drug, while Covidien PLC is responsible for marketing, sales, and regulatory filings. Covidien will pay CombinatoRx $40 million as a result of the FDA ruling, and CombinatoRx will get royalty payments.

Veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who have post-traumatic stress disorder are far more likely than those without a mental illness to be prescribed opioid painkillers, a study by researchers affiliated with the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of California at San Francisco found. The group followed more than 141,000 veterans who had a pain diagnosis between 2005 and 2008. About 6.5 percent of veterans without a mental health disorder received opioid painkillers, while 17.8 percent of veterans with a PTSD diagnosis received them.

WALTHAM — Alkermes Inc. said yesterday that a clinical trial shows one of its drug candidates can relieve constipation caused by use of opioid pain medications without reducing the effectiveness of the pain drugs. Alkermes said the two largest doses of its drug, which is designated ALKS 37, were both significantly more effective than a placebo. The company plans to move the drug into more advanced clinical testing, starting a new program by the middle of this year. Opioid drugs are often used to treat severe chronic pain, but the drugs often cause constipation and bowel problems.

FEW DEATHS from heroin overdose happen alone. A friend or relative is often standing by helplessly as a victim's skin turns blue, their pulse slows, and breathing stops. In 2008, 594 people died from accidental overdoses of heroin and other opioid drugs in Massachusetts. That's why a promising state pilot program that gets a life-saving overdose-reversal drug called naloxone into the hands of friends and relatives of opioid addicts should be expanded to more communities. At the same time, more first responders should carry the drug, often known by the...

The city will be collecting expired or unwanted prescription drugs Saturday from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. at the Council on Aging, 10 Father Kenney Way. By dropping off the pills or medications, residents will help prevent them from being misused or posing a threat to the environment. This is the third time the city has participated in the national "prescription drug take-back" effort. In April, more than 1,000 pills were collected in Brockton, and nationally the first two drives gathered more than 300 tons of medications.

AS PRESIDENT of the Gavin Foundation, one of Boston's largest community-based addiction prevention and treatment programs, I support the editorial calling on the Legislature to pass the bill requiring doctors who prescribe narcotics to first check a statewide database. No one likes another regulation. However, prescription drug abuse is deadly, and it's on the rise. Two people a day are dying of opioid-related overdoses. Registries like this are effective in other states. With Massachusetts leading the way in so many areas in health care, it's time we got in front on this issue of reducing statewide mortality...

WASHINGTON - Improper use of patches that emit the painkiller fentanyl is still killing people, the government said yesterday - its second warning in two years about the powerful narcotic. Some of the deaths came after doctors prescribed the patches to the wrong patients, the Food and Drug Administration said. The drug is only for chronic pain in people used to narcotics, such as cancer patients, and can cause trouble breathing in people new to this family of "opioid" painkillers.

ATLANTA - Drug-related deaths outnumber those from motor vehicle accidents in a growing number of states, according to new government data that highlight a shift in the top cause of deaths after disease and illness. Crashes still cost more lives nationwide, but state-by-state calculations show the rate of drug-induced deaths outpaced vehicle accidents in 16 states in 2006, up from about a dozen states the year before and eight in 2003. Drug overdoses make up the majority of the drug-related deaths, and there was a sharp increase in fatalities tied to...

AS PRESIDENT of the Gavin Foundation, one of Boston's largest community-based addiction prevention and treatment programs, I support the editorial calling on the Legislature to pass the bill requiring doctors who prescribe narcotics to first check a statewide database. No one likes another regulation. However, prescription drug abuse is deadly, and it's on the rise. Two people a day are dying of opioid-related overdoses. Registries like this are effective in other states. With Massachusetts leading the way in so many areas in health care, it's time we got in front on this issue of reducing statewide mortality...

FEW DEATHS from heroin overdose happen alone. A friend or relative is often standing by helplessly as a victim's skin turns blue, their pulse slows, and breathing stops. In 2008, 594 people died from accidental overdoses of heroin and other opioid drugs in Massachusetts. That's why a promising state pilot program that gets a life-saving overdose-reversal drug called naloxone into the hands of friends and relatives of opioid addicts should be expanded to more communities. At the same time, more first responders should carry the drug, often known by the brand name Narcan,...

The city will be collecting expired or unwanted prescription drugs Saturday from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. at the Council on Aging, 10 Father Kenney Way. By dropping off the pills or medications, residents will help prevent them from being misused or posing a threat to the environment. This is the third time the city has participated in the national "prescription drug take-back" effort. In April, more than 1,000 pills were collected in Brockton, and nationally the first two drives gathered more than 300 tons of medications.

WALTHAM — Alkermes Inc. said yesterday that a clinical trial shows one of its drug candidates can relieve constipation caused by use of opioid pain medications without reducing the effectiveness of the pain drugs. Alkermes said the two largest doses of its drug, which is designated ALKS 37, were both significantly more effective than a placebo. The company plans to move the drug into more advanced clinical testing, starting a new program by the middle of this year. Opioid drugs are often used to treat severe chronic pain, but the drugs often cause constipation and bowel problems.

NEW YORK - The Food and Drug Administration has approved the sale of CombinatoRx Inc.’s extended-release pain drug Exalgo, the Cambridge, Mass., company reported yesterday. Exalgo is intended to treat moderate to severe pain in patients who require treatment with opioid painkillers for an extended period of time. CombinatoRx developed the drug, while Covidien PLC is responsible for marketing, sales, and regulatory filings. Covidien will pay CombinatoRx $40 million as a result of the FDA ruling, and CombinatoRx will get royalty payments.

ATLANTA - Drug-related deaths outnumber those from motor vehicle accidents in a growing number of states, according to new government data that highlight a shift in the top cause of deaths after disease and illness. Crashes still cost more lives nationwide, but state-by-state calculations show the rate of drug-induced deaths outpaced vehicle accidents in 16 states in 2006, up from about a dozen states the year before and eight in 2003. Drug overdoses make up the majority of the drug-related deaths, and there was a sharp increase in fatalities tied to cocaine and to...

WASHINGTON -- Doctors cannot be arrested for properly prescribing narcotic painkillers that are the best treatment for millions of suffering patients, according to new guidelines from pain specialists and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The guidelines, written by leading pain specialists together with the DEA, come because many doctors hesitate to prescribe the powerful drugs, which are heavily regulated because they can be abused by addicts. The new document for the first time spells out the exact steps doctors should take to ensure their patients get appropriate medical care...

WASHINGTON - Improper use of patches that emit the painkiller fentanyl is still killing people, the government said yesterday - its second warning in two years about the powerful narcotic. Some of the deaths came after doctors prescribed the patches to the wrong patients, the Food and Drug Administration said. The drug is only for chronic pain in people used to narcotics, such as cancer patients, and can cause trouble breathing in people new to this family of "opioid" painkillers.