The objective of this study was to compare resource utilisation and associated healthcare costs between the OPD patients treated with buprenorphine/naloxone combination and OPD patients without pharmacological treatment from the German healthcare perspective. (Source: Value in Health)

ConclusionsThe introduction of BNX film in Australia varied across States. A perception of restricted choice in medication may have undermined initial acceptance in SA. [Larance B, Dietze P, Ali R, Lintzeris N, White N, Jenkinson R, Degenhardt L. The introduction of BNX film in opioid substitution therapy in Australia: Uptake and issues arising from changing buprenorphine formulations. Drug Alcohol Rev 2015;●●:●●–●●] (Source: Drug and Alcohol Review)

By Daniel J. Pallin, MD, MPH Opioid-dependent individuals visiting the emergency department are much more likely to participate in addiction treatment when buprenorphine/naloxone therapy is started during the visit, a JAMA study finds.Investigators randomized some 330 adult patients reporting opioid dependence to one of … (Source: Physician’s First Watch current issue)

By Daniel J. Pallin, MD, MPH Opioid-dependent individuals visiting the emergency department are much more likely to participate in addiction treatment when buprenorphine/naloxone therapy is started during the visit, a JAMA study finds.Investigators randomized some 330 adult patients reporting opioid dependence to one of … (Source: Physician’s First Watch current issue)

In this study, the authors specifically examined IA among subjects with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). All enrolled patients with OCD alone (n=27) and OCD and IA (n=11) were treated for OCD for a period of one year. At 12 months, only two of the 11 patients with OCD and IA continued to meet the criteria for IA, and the authors concluded that treatment of the underlying disorder, in this case OCD, improved IA, supporting their hypothesis that IA is a symptom of an underlying disorder and not a primary disorder itself. The authors state several limitations to their study that might impact their conclusions and acknowledge that more carefully controlled studies are needed to resolve the diagnostic controversies surrounding IA.
Next, Kolikonda et al present a case report titled, “Atypi…

The high prevalence of interrelated problems with opioid use disorder, injection drug use (IDU), and HIV/AIDS in Malaysia has led to the scale-up of public health approaches, including opioid agonist maintenance treatment with buprenorphine or methadone. Malaysia has more than 300,000 registered people who use drugs (PWUD)-approximately 1.1% of its population of about 30 million-and an estimated 170,000 people who inject drugs (PWID; Nazar and Ahlam, 2007; Global AIDS Response, 2012), with heroin continuing to be the drug most frequently injected. (Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence)

The high prevalence of interrelated problems with opioid use disorder, injection drug use (IDU), and HIV/AIDS in Malaysia has led to the scale-up of public health approaches, including opioid agonist maintenance treatment with buprenorphine or methadone. Malaysia has more than 300,000 registered people who use drugs (PWUD)-approximately 1.1% of its population of about 30 million-and an estimated 170,000 people who inject drugs (PWID; Nazar and Ahlam, 2007; Global AIDS Response, 2012), with heroin continuing to be the drug most frequently injected. (Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence)

Opinion statement
Prescription opioid misuse has been a significant epidemic during the past decade. Formulations of prescription opioids with different mechanisms of abuse-deterrence have been developed or are currently under development. Given that these medications are substantially more difficult to use in an illicit fashion and minimize the potential for euphoria and/or create an aversive experience when over-ingested, they represent an important next step in pharmacological innovation. Immediate decreases in nonmedical use and in associated overdose mortality and adverse events have been observed after a highly abused opioid, OxyContin, was changed into an abuse-deterrent formulation. However, this reduction in OxyContin use may have simply shifted the drug of choice towards…

Opinion statement
Prescription opioid misuse has been a significant epidemic during the past decade. Formulations of prescription opioids with different mechanisms of abuse-deterrence have been developed or are currently under development. Given that these medications are substantially more difficult to use in an illicit fashion and minimize the potential for euphoria and/or create an aversive experience when over-ingested, they represent an important next step in pharmacological innovation. Immediate decreases in nonmedical use and in associated overdose mortality and adverse events have been observed after a highly abused opioid, OxyContin, was changed into an abuse-deterrent formulation. However, this reduction in OxyContin use may have simply shifted the drug of choice towards…

Opiate withdrawal scales were developed to examine the patient’s physical dependence and physiological readiness prior to methadone or buprenorphine induction, and to compare treatments for withdrawal (Wesson and Ling, 2003). The Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale (COWS; Wesson and Ling, 2003) is a common measure used to assess withdrawal in clinical trials and practice, and consists of 11 observed (clinician-rated) and subjective (patient-rated) items. The COWS has been used to assess withdrawal in buprenorphine/naloxone vs. (Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence)