Opioid overdose deaths in Massachusetts increased 150% from 2012 to 2015 (1). The proportion of opioid overdose deaths in the state involving fentanyl, a synthetic, short-acting opioid with 50-100 times the potency of morphine, increased from 32% during 2013-2014 to 74% in the first half of 2016 (1-3). In April 2015, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and CDC reported an increase in law enforcem...

Introduction Drug poisoning, or overdose, is an epidemic problem in the United States1,2. In keeping with national trends, a recent study combining U.S. Veterans Health Administration (VHA) data with the National Death Index showed increases in opioid overdose mortality from 2001 to 20093. One of the challenges in monitoring the overdose epidemic is that collecting cohort data to analyze overdo...

OBJECTIVE We aimed to estimate risk of recurrent overdose associated with psychosocial assessment by psychiatrists during hospitalization for nonfatal overdose and prescribing patterns of psychotropic medications after discharge. METHODS A retrospective cohort study was conducted using a nationwide claims database in Japan. We classified patients aged 19-64 years hospitalized for nonfatal ove...

OBJECTIVES To describe the circumstances surrounding recent heroin overdose among a sample of heroin overdose survivors and the links to their knowledge of overdose risk. METHODS A cross-sectional survey of 257 recent non-fatal heroin overdose survivors was undertaken to examine self-reported knowledge of overdose risk reduction strategies, behaviour in the 12 h prior to overdose and attribut...

BACKGROUND North America is currently experiencing an overdose epidemic due to a significant increase of fentanyl-adulterated opioids and related analogs. Multiple jurisdictions have declared a public health emergency given the increasing number of overdose deaths. In the province of British Columbia (BC) in Canada, people who use drugs and who are unstably housed are disproportionately affecte...

BACKGROUND While overdose is a common cause of mortality among opioid injectors worldwide, little information exists on opioid overdoses or how context may influence overdose risk in Russia. This study sought to uncover social and structural aspects contributing to fatal overdose risk in St. Petersburg and assess prevention intervention feasibility. METHODS Twenty-one key informant interviews...

BACKGROUND Opioid overdose in Russia is a problem that has grown more severe as heroin abuse expanded over the past decade, yet few studies have explored it in detail. In order to gain a clearer understanding of the situation, 60 drug users, both in and out of drug treatment in St. Petersburg, were interviewed concerning their overdose experience and knowledge about overdose recognition and pre...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Recently, use of prescription opioids (POs) has increased; non-medical PO (NMPO) use is linked to overdose. NMPO use is common among individuals prescribed opioids for pain, and those in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment with pain could be at increased risk for unintentional overdose due to NMPO use. We examined associations between pain, NMPO use, and overdose amo...

BACKGROUND Drug overdose is an important, yet an inadequately understood, public health problem. Global attention to unintentional drug overdose has been limited by comparison with the scope of the problem. There has been a substantial increase in drug overdose incidence and prevalence in several countries worldwide over the past decade, contributing to both increased costs and mortality. OBJ...

to the editor; tramadol, a synthetic opioid is mainly used to treat acute and chronic pain. although this drug is not an over-the-counter medication, it has been illicitly accessible to and abused by opium addicts (1-3). studies showed excessive and widespread use of tramadol in iran (1-4). tramadol may cause constipation, drowsiness, tachycardia and respiratory distress, while the most severe ...