AIMS To determine the contribution of heroin, prescription opioids, cocaine and alcohol/drug combinations to the total overdose death rate and identify changes in drug overdose patterns among New Mexico subpopulations. DESIGN We analyzed medical examiner data for all unintentional drug overdose deaths in New Mexico during 1990-2005. Age-adjusted drug overdose death rates were calculated by se...

BACKGROUND The production, prescription, and consumption of opioid analgesics to treat non-cancer pain have increased dramatically in the USA in the past decade. As a result, misuse of these opioids has increased; overdose and transition to riskier forms of drug use have also emerged. Research points to a trend in transition to drug injection among those misusing prescription opioids, where clu...

medication errors and adverse drug events can bring about hospitalization, permanent injury, or death. patients due to lack of adequate understanding of instruction may unintentionally misuse a prescribed medicine. the aims of the study were to examine whether patients with low back pain were correctly able to understand physician's instructions regarding drug use and also to identify influenci...

BACKGROUND In Italy, even though olanzapine has been discouraged for treatment of behaviour disorders in older patients affected by dementia, some physicians chose to prescribe for them. In response to this situation, the Italian Drug Agency (Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco, AIFA) promulgated a cautionary note. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study examined epidemiological indices for olanzapine pres...

STUDY OBJECTIVE Acute pain complaints are commonly treated in the emergency department (ED). Short courses of opioids are presumed to be safe for acute pain; however, the risk of recurrent opioid use after receipt of an ED opioid prescription is unknown. We describe the risk of recurrent opioid use in patients receiving an opioid prescription from the ED for an acute painful condition. METHOD...

OBJECTIVE To study the association between benzodiazepine prescribing patterns including dose, type, and dosing schedule and the risk of death from drug overdose among US veterans receiving opioid analgesics. DESIGN Case-cohort study. SETTING Veterans Health Administration (VHA), 2004-09. PARTICIPANTS US veterans, primarily male, who received opioid analgesics in 2004-09. All veterans who...

UNLABELLED Two issues relating to prescription opioid nonmedical use that to our knowledge have not been comprehensively addressed in the peer-reviewed literature are discussed: Motives for nonmedical use and the extent of nonmedical use of prescription opioids in other countries. The United States' national annual survey on illicit drug use in the general population (National Survey on Drug Us...

Objective: To evaluate the knowledge and attitude of dental house officers regarding proper drug prescription factors influencing judgement during writing. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with approval review board CMH Lahore Medical College. Online questionnaire 17 close ended questions developed authors distributed among 400 working in various private institutes ...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the drug dispensing practices and patients' knowledge on drug use among the outpatients and to identify and analyze the problems in drug prescribing and dispensing. METHODS A prospective cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted using World Health Organization (WHO) core drug use indicators from July 13, 2008 to August 15, 2008 in Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara...

BACKGROUND Pharmacologic treatments for erectile dysfunction (ED) have gained popularity among middle-aged and older men. Increased sexual activity among those who use these drugs raises concerns about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). OBJECTIVE To examine the rates of STDs in men who use and do not use ED drugs. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING Database of claims from 1997 ...