FDA Approves Naloxone Auto-Injector for Heroin OD Drug AddictionBy Promises Behavioral HealthApril 7, 2014With stunning speed, on Thursday the FDA approved an injection device designed to deliver naloxone — a drug that can reverse an opioid overdose — for use in the home and other non-hospital settings. The approval comes after a four-month, fast-track priority review, and may represent a tipping point in how heroin and prescription opioid addiction…
Holder Vows to Fight Heroin Deaths ‘Crisis,’ Treatment Gets Short Shrift Drug AddictionBy Promises Behavioral HealthMarch 12, 2014U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder this week declared rising heroin and opioid overdose deaths “an urgent and public health crisis” and vowed renewed enforcement and treatment efforts. In a five-minute televised video, the nation’s top cop referred to the 45 percent increase from 2004 to 2010 in the fatal overdoses from heroin and other opiates found…
Super Painkiller Zohydro Could Lead to More Overdose Deaths Substance AbuseBy Promises Behavioral HealthMarch 12, 2014A new super-potent narcotic painkiller called Zohydro is set to enter the marketplace and critics fear the country will see a spike in opioid addiction and overdose deaths as a result. Zohydro, which was approved by the FDA last year in a controversial decision, is an extended release formula of pure hydrocodone. In spite of the warnings from…
Man Dies After Paranoid Reaction to Magic Crystals AddictionBy Promises Behavioral HealthJuly 12, 2013Daniel Parks’ wife had fallen asleep, shattered after a long day at the UK-based music festival Bestival. Daniel locked himself in the bathroom—his mind frazzled by his use of drugs over the weekend—and took a kitchen knife with him. He mutilated his lower arms, sending blood cascading down onto the floor of the small cubicle…
Gene Therapy for Cocaine Addiction and Cocaine Overdose Drug AddictionBy Promises Behavioral HealthMay 17, 2013Gene therapy is the general term that doctors and scientists use to describe any medical technique that relies on purposeful manipulation of units of DNA inside individual cells, called genes, in order to treat, cure or prevent an illness. Depending on individual circumstances, use of this type of therapy can involve deactivating or switching out…
