skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina s congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Myorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Study: Better Rx Practices Can Help Fight Opioid Epidemic

play audio
Play

Thursday, July 7, 2016   

IOWA CITY, Iowa – More than 6 out of 10 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2014 involved an opioid, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In that same year, 165,000 people died from prescription opioid overdoses.

However, a new study from the University of Iowa shows opioid prescriptions are declining, at least among patients within the Veterans Health Administration.

Dr. Hilary Mosher, clinical assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Iowa Carver School of Medicine, is one of the authors of the study that looked at prescriptions between 2004 and 2011.

"So it went down in terms of the proportion of incident opioid recipients who went on to have long-term therapy, decreased from 20.4 percent to 18.3 percent, as sort of the reflection of practice of how these are prescribed," she states.

That includes what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends: more short-term opioid prescriptions no longer than 30 days instead of long-term programs of 90 days or more.

Mosher says the state of Iowa also uses a prescription-monitoring program that allows pharmacists to look for any over-prescription patterns with any given patient. She says while the numbers in the study are encouraging, many people still are in need of help.

"For people who already are habitually using these medications and not seeing the safety or the benefits that we might desire, is how do we help those patients to decrease their use and find more appropriate and safe and beneficial remedies for the pain and suffering that they experience," she stresses.

While helping people break their opioid addiction is necessary, Mosher says what's also needed is to provide other pain-management programs that have proven effective.

"Things like cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, mindfulness approaches, alternate remedies including acupuncture and massage, physical therapy," she explains.

The study also found an increase of even shorter-term opioid prescriptions of seven days or less, which also could effectively manage pain but are less likely to lead to addiction.





get more stories like this via email

more stories
Many factors affect a customer's bill amount, including energy usage, weather, and the number of days in a billing period, according to Arizona Public Service. (Jason Yoder/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …


Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …


More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social media platform X temporarily shutdown searches of "Taylor Swift" following the release of explicit deepfake images in early 2024. (Mdv Edwards/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021