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from the Antidiarrheal-overdose?-Oh,-crap! dept.
NPR is reporting on the latest drug scare, involving an over-the-counter antidiarrheal drug that is being used for its opioid-like effects by addicts:
Some people addicted to oxycodone and other opioids are now turning to widely available diarrhea medications to manage their withdrawal symptoms or get high. The results can be dangerous to the heart — and sometimes fatal — warn toxicologists in a study [open, DOI: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2016.03.047] recently published online in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.
The researchers describe two case studies where people who were addicted to opioids tried to ease their withdrawal symptoms by taking many times the recommended dose of loperamide, a drug commonly used treat diarrhea. Both patients died.
"Because of its low cost, ease of accessibility and legal status, it's a drug that is very, very ripe for abuse," says lead author William Eggleston, a doctor of pharmacy and fellow in clinical toxicology at the Upstate New York Poison Center, which is affiliated with SUNY Upstate Medical University.
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4/20: Half-Baked Headline
(Score: 1) by wendo on Thursday May 05 2016, @02:44AM
It's not 1 in 100, unless myself, and everyone I've ever met is in that 1% too
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 05 2016, @03:11AM
They did a medical study several years ago and it showed the substitute decongestant worked no better than a placebo. It literally does nothing. How in the name of medicine does such a thing happen unless it's the Federal Govt Puritans, the DEA, getting involved? The people who have a legitimate use should not be made to suffer just because someone, somewhere might be enjoying himself by using it. Who gives a rat's ass?
(Score: 2) by sjames on Friday May 06 2016, @01:58AM
So much for the FDA making sure drugs actually work...
(Score: 2) by Kromagv0 on Thursday May 05 2016, @04:54PM
It probably works for 1 in 100, or at least that has been my experience and that of my friend who's a pharmacist.
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