morphine

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There's a Big Downside to Demonizing Opioids
We May Have Gone Too Far
in Demonizing Opioids
longform
Jun 9, 2024 3:20 PM CDT

We May Have Gone Too Far in Demonizing Opioids

Too many people are dying painful deaths, writes Ann Neumann in the Baffler

(Newser) - The stigma in America against opioid use is an understandable one, writes Ann Neumann in the Baffler . After all, the devastating toll of addiction over the last two decades by drugs such as OxyContin has been well chronicled. Neumann covers that familiar territory in her piece, but in the context...

Police: 5 Newborns Poisoned in Same Ward

German authorities are poised to charge nurse with attempted manslaughter

(Newser) - Doctors were stumped when five babies struggled to breathe at a German hospital. Then came urine tests, a police probe, and a painful find: breast milk mixed with morphine in a syringe in a nurse's locker at the University Hospital of Ulm. Now the nurse has been arrested and...

Super-Potent Opioid Wins FDA Approval

Dsuvia will be tightly controlled, the FDA promises

(Newser) - It's called Dsuvia, and the potency of this opioid is hard to fathom: It's up to 1,000 times stronger than morphine and up to 10 times stronger than fentanyl, reports USA Today . Despite the worries of critics that it will add to the nation's opioid problem,...

Scientists May Have Discovered Addiction-less Painkiller

PZM21 could potentially replace morphine and other opioids

(Newser) - The Los Angeles Times reports scientists are "tantalizingly close" to the perfect painkilling drug. Researchers announced the discovery of PZM21 in a study published Wednesday in Nature . In testing on mice, the chemical compound relieved nearly as much pain as morphine—87% to 92%—and lasted longer. At the...

Secret Ingredient Used in China's Restaurants: Drugs

Country's FDA going after eateries it says use opium poppy powder as seasoning

(Newser) - If repasts at restaurants in China have seemed especially delectable (and irresistible) as of late, it may be because workers were sprinkling addictive opiates into the mix. That's what that country's equivalent of the FDA alleges, and now five restaurants are being prosecuted, while 30 others are getting...

Queen's Nag Flunks Drug Test
 Queen's Nag Flunks Drug Test 
Jul 23, 2014 6:56 AM CDT

Queen's Nag Flunks Drug Test

Winner of last year's Gold Cup, Estimate, tests positive for morphine

(Newser) - The latest royal scandal mercifully has nothing to do with Prince Harry , things that should've stayed in Vegas , or other photos you can't un-see : Rather, it's a 5-year-old horse owned by the queen, and she's tested positive for a banned substance, reports the Telegraph . It seems...

Single Pill Would Combine Morphine ... and Oxycodone
Single Pill Would Mix Morphine ... and Oxycodone
in case you missed it
Apr 26, 2014 8:33 AM CDT

Single Pill Would Mix Morphine ... and Oxycodone

Its maker will tout Moxduo's benefits to the FDA today, in face of fears

(Newser) - On the one hand are the benefits: A single pill that would allow patients to ingest smaller doses of two drugs than they'd consume if they took the drugs separately, one with a lowered risk of respiratory complications, and one that eases intense pain rapidly. What's not to...

Mom Who Killed Baby Through Breastfeeding Gets 20 Years

Her morphine got into the infant's system

(Newser) - A South Carolina woman has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for inadvertently killing her baby through breastfeeding. Prosecutors made the case that Stephanie Greene, 39, was taking so many prescription painkillers that her 6-week-old daughter overdosed, reports WYFF . The infant had a toxic level of morphine in her...

Centipede Venom Better Than Morphine: Study

It holds promise as pain-reliever, says study

(Newser) - How would you feel if the ER doctor offered you centipede venom for the pain? The idea isn't so farfetched: A new study finds that the venom, which paralyzes prey, may also yield a compound that's more effective than morphine as a painkiller for humans, Smithsonian reports. Why?...

5 Habits That Are Really Addictions

Pop tunes, salty snacks, and tanning? All addictive

(Newser) - Drugs, sex, alcohol—such addictions belong to other people, right? Not so, says Cracked , which lists five everyday addictions:
  • Pop music. Scientists have predicted pop hits by performing MRI scans on people listening to unreleased tunes. Future hits lit up pleasure centers in the brain; dopamine was released when melodies
...

Meditation: Better Than Morphine
 Meditation: Better 
 Than Morphine 
study says
Apr 6, 2011 12:12 PM CDT

Meditation: Better Than Morphine

Little more than one hour reduces pain dramatically

(Newser) - In pain? Before you reach for the hard drugs, reach for ... your meditation cushion. Researchers found that a little more than one hour of meditation training was enough to "dramatically reduce" pain, the Telegraph reports. Fifteen newbie meditators attended four 20-minute training classes on mindfulness meditation as researchers induced...

'Accidental' OD Killed Slipknot Bassist

Coroner blames morphine for Paul Gray's death

(Newser) - An "accidental" overdose of morphine and the painkiller fentanyl caused the death of Slipknot bassist Paul Gray last month, according to autopsy results. The coroner says the 38-year-old also suffered from "significant heart disease," Reuters reports. Investigators found no evidence that Gray had prescriptions for either the...

Pain-Relieving Morphine May Spread Cancer

But drug to counter harmful effect exists

(Newser) - Morphine, a painkiller often prescribed to ease cancer patients' suffering, may in fact encourage the spread of the disease. A new study suggests that the opiate strengthens blood vessels that deliver oxygen and nutrients to tumors, as well as makes it easier for cancers to invade new tissues and spread,...

Cops Can't Find Jackson's Doctor
Cops Can't
Find Jackson's
Doctor
Jun 26, 2009 11:17 AM CDT

Cops Can't Find Jackson's Doctor

Physician reportedly gave singer an injection before he died

(Newser) - Michael Jackson's doctor has apparently gone AWOL, TMZ reports. Authorities want to interview him but can't find him, sources say. Cops towed his BMW from Jackson's house last night. One source says the doctor gave Jackson an injection, possibly of the morphine-like drug Demerol, before he died. The LA coroner,...

US, Afghan Forces Kill 60 in Massive Taliban Drug Raid

(Newser) - US and Afghan forces seized a massive drug cache and and killed 60 militants in a four-day operation in Helmand province, Reuters reports. The troops scored more than 17 tons of morphine, opium, and heroin, along with 75 tons of poppy seeds, and caches of weapons and equipment, the military...

Hot Sauce Could Be the New Morphine
Hot Sauce
Could Be the New Morphine
Oct 30, 2007 11:09 AM CDT

Hot Sauce Could Be the New Morphine

Chemical in chili peppers that burns also numbs—for days

(Newser) - Doctors think they have a hot lead on an alternative to opioid pain killers like morphine: chili peppers. California-based researchers are dripping what is essentially a sterile version of hot sauce—containing capsaicin, the chemical that gives peppers their bite—directly into open wounds during surgery. Just like biting into...

Painkiller Is Denied to Poor
Painkiller Is Denied to Poor
Sep 10, 2007 10:08 AM CDT

Painkiller Is Denied to Poor

Morphine is cheap and available, but it's withheld because of 'opoid phobia'

(Newser) - Though morphine is cheap, effective, and widely available, most people sufferering extreme pain don't  get it, the New York Times reports. The poorest 80% of the world’s population consumes only 6% of the pain-killer. Why? Because health care workers in poor countries are afraid to prescribe morphine, or not...

Moms Warned of Codeine Risk in Breast Milk

FDA: Watch out for signs of overdose in babies

(Newser) - The Federal Food and Drug Administration has warned nursing mothers using codeine to be on the lookout for any signs of unusual drowsiness in their babies. A significant number of women have a gene that can concentrate high levels of the painkiller in their breast milk. Last year, a Canadian...

18 Stories