Day: 12/20/2014

6/8/2012, Bye Bye Generic Vicodin

http://www.epmonthly.com/whitecoat/2012/06/bye-bye-generic-vicodin/

Click to access prescription-combination-hydrocodone-apap-product-alert-may-2013.pdf

Upcoming Changes to Acetaminophen‐Containing Opioid Products

In January 2011, the FDA announced that drug manufacturers will be required to limit the strength of acetaminophen (APAP) contained in prescription drug products to 325 mg per tablet, capsule, or other dosage unit. The FDA believes that limiting the amount of acetaminophen per dosage unit may reduce the risk of severe liver injury from overdosing, and thus limit subsequent cases of liver failure, liver transplant and death.

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/08/8551315/hydrocodone-change-unknown-side-effects

8/25/2014, A hydrocodone change with unknown side effects

The move will have little legal impact in New York, where Attorney General Eric Schneiderman pushed through a reclassification in 2013 as part of a campaign to curb drug abuse…

It’s still too soon to know whether New York can provide a useful test case for the federal change. There isn’t enough data to know whether opioid addictions have been impacted or whether prescribing habits have changed, but New Yorkers have no trouble getting oxycodone despite its more restrictive classification.

Bridget Brennan, the city’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor told the city council in 2012 that hydrocodone prescriptions had fallen 4 percent in 2011, but “could be explained by a shift to oxycodone.”

Her office reported that the number of oxycodone prescriptions filled by New York City residents increased 124 percent between 2007 and 2011.

In 2013, the mayor’s taskforce on prescription painkiller abuse reported that the number of oxycodone prescriptions filled in 2012 increased 83 percent from 2008 to 2012, while the number of hydrocodone prescriptions has decreased by 15 percent.

Most Fatal Poisonings Linked to Prescription Drugs

http://www.pharmacytimes.com/news/Most-Fatal-Poisonings-Linked-to-Prescription-Drugs

While opioid analgesics resulted in the most fatal poisonings, the street drug heroin topped the list of drugs that caused death, at 325 cases. Methadone was the leading pharmaceutical ingredient, causing 178 fatalities. Many of the methadone-related deaths involved the tablet form of the drug, as opposed to the liquid or diskette formulations, according to the study. Oxycodone, hydrocodone, acetaminophen, and morphine were the next leading causes of fatal poisoning.  

Prescription opioid exposures involving children, which totaled 2591 in 2002, more than doubled in a 10-year span, numbering 5541 cases in 2012. Child deaths involving prescription analgesics increased from 1 to 7 annually in that same time period, the study reported. Methadone also led to the most pediatric deaths.

Dallas Police Department to Add 200 Body Cameras in January

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2014/12/dallas_police_department_to_add_200_body_cameras_in_january.php

Citing the need to increase transparency, accountability and community engagement, Dallas Police Chief David Brown said that his department will use forfeiture funds to purchase 200 body cameras that will begin recording early next year.

12/2/2014, Michigan Cop Commits Suicide After Marijuana Butter Considered Not Medically ‘Usable Marihuana’

http://www.inquisitr.com/1648963/michigan-cop-commits-suicide-after-marijuana-butter-considered-not-medically-usable-marihuana/

Sergeant Timothy Bernhardt served in his department for 22 years, but a tip from a postal worker led to the eventual searches of the homes of corrections officers Sergeant Tim Bernhardt, Deputy Michael Frederick, and Deputy Todd VanDoorne, as well as Christine Tennant, the wife of Deputy Brian Tennant. All of them believed at the time that the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act protected their possession and use of medical marijuana butter, according to Huffington Press.