This article presents an update on addiction-related medical literature for the calendar years 2010 and 2011, focusing on studies that have implications for generalist practice. We present articles pertaining to medical comorbidities and complications, prescription drug misuse among patients with chronic pain, screening and brief interventions (SBIs), and pharmacotherapy for addiction.

this commentary discusses pertinent issues from hyosun kim’s paper on online prescription drug promotion. the study is well-designed and the findings highlight some of the consequences of the food and drug administration’s (fda’s) decision to deregulate online advertising of prescription drugs. while kim’s findings confirm some of the early concerns, they also provide a perspective of implement...

Prescription-drug overuse/overdose and misuse is an important and pivotal issue to state medical boards. This is an illustration of how some cases involving overprescribing of opioids have been addressed by the Rhode Island Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline.

Regulations usually distinguish between prescription-only (POM) and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines. The former requires medical prescription; the latter are available for SM of common minor or easily treated ailments. However, in the Eastern Mediterranean countries, theoretical prescription medicines can easily be purchased without a prescription, as self-medication (SM) resulting in potentia...

BACKGROUND Pain is among the most commonly treated symptoms in the emergency department, and opioids are commonly prescribed from the emergency department to treat moderate to severe pain. Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMP) can be used to assist physicians identify individuals at increased risk to misuse or abuse opioids. While the use of the PDMP has been shown useful among clinician...

Because of the multitude of financial, health, and social problems associated with prescription opioid misuse, effective methods of identifying older adults who are misusing these medications are needed. We conducted a pilot investigation to determine the prevalence of previous and current prescription opioid use among older adults visiting the Rhode Island Hospital Emergency Department and the...