The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Hysingla ER (hydrocodone bitartrate), an extended-release (ER) opioid analgesic to treat pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term opioid treatment and for which alternative treatment options are inadequate. Hysingla ER has approved labeling describing the product’s abuse-deterrent properties consistent with the FDA’s 2013 draft guidance for industry, Abuse-Deterrent Opioids – Evaluation and Labeling.
A new study finds it is unlikely that a person exposed to secondhand marijuana smoke will test positive for marijuana themselves. While it is possible that extreme marijuana smoke exposure could produce a positive urine test, this occurrence is likely to be rare and limited to the hours immediately after exposure, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins University.
Several medical groups are calling for verbal drug screening for pregnant women, followed by a urine test if necessary, USA Today reports. The recommendation is meant to reduce the growing number of babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).
The Coalition for Excellence in Medication Monitoring (CEMM) – the leading voice of the medication monitoring clinical laboratory industry – has elected Robert Garvey, CEO of Dominion Diagnostics, to serve as its new Chairman.
Dominion Diagnostics, a leading national provider of drug testing, medication monitoring, and actionable clinical information, now offers a new laboratory‐based urine test for the detection of commonly prescribed Z‐Drugs.
Scientists in the open access journal PLOSONE reported today on a comprehensive systematic evaluation of compliance to prescribed treatment medications and abstinence from psychoactive drug abuse in chemical dependence programs.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has reclassified hydrocodone-combination products as the more restrictive Schedule II drugs in an attempt to curb drug abuse. The DEA published the Final Rule in the Federal Register on Aug. 22. The Final Rule will take effect in 45 days and will apply to “all pharmaceuticals containing hydrocodone currently on the market in the United States.”
New guidelines drafted by the American Pain Society (APS) for the safe administration of methadone for the first time focus particular attention on the potential for abuse and misuse of the drug, highlighting the need for additional awareness and education within the pain management community, after a significant increase in deaths related to its use.
Nearly 90,000 adults go to emergency rooms each year for side effects of psychiatric medications, and a few specific drugs may be to blame for 57% of those visits, a new study has found.
Dominion Diagnostics recently hosted a donation drive to benefit Project Sweet Peas, an organization that provides comfort to families with children in the Women and Infants neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). There are a number of Dominion Diagnostics employees who have been beneficiaries of support services from Project Sweet Peas.
