WEDNESDAY, May 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Could giving surgical procedure sufferers ready-to-use mailed disposal kits for unused opioids decrease the chance of abuse of the medicine?

Yes, claims a brand new research that discovered sufferers with unused opioid ache drugs are more likely to eliminate them correctly when given the kits.

There’s a danger that leftover opioid drugs could also be misused by the individual they had been prescribed to or by others. If they’re put within the trash, they may very well be discovered by youngsters or animals, or could hurt the surroundings. Flushing them down the bathroom additionally poses environmental dangers, the researchers defined.

There are secure disposal websites, comparable to sure pharmacies, however sufferers usually do not use them as a result of they might be out of the best way or it takes additional effort.

In this research, University of Pennsylvania researchers assessed whether or not mailed secure disposal kits would possibly make a distinction.

The research included 235 sufferers who had been prescribed opioid painkillers after orthopedic or urologic procedures. The typical process was adopted for about half of the sufferers, who had been texted directions to eliminate their unused drugs together with a hyperlink to places of native secure disposal websites.

The different sufferers obtained the identical textual content message however had been mailed disposal kits 4 to seven days after their procedures.

Leftover opioids had been disposed of correctly by 60% of those that obtained the disposal package, in contrast with 43% of the sufferers who did not obtain the kits, the investigators discovered.

Some research present that solely about 20% to 30% of U.S. sufferers correctly eliminate unused opioid drugs, so these findings counsel that mailed disposal kits might double or triple that fee, based on the authors of the research revealed on-line May 6 in JAMA Network Open.

The researchers famous that using mailed disposal kits by 125 sufferers within the research resulted within the secure disposal of 480 unused opioid drugs.

“I used to be happy to see that such a easy, ‘snail mail’ method might change conduct and promote self-reported disposal,” mentioned research lead creator Dr. Anish Agarwal, an assistant professor of emergency medication and chief wellness officer of the division of emergency medication at Penn Medicine.

“The opioid epidemic clearly continues to be entrance and heart for sufferers, and the considerations with opioid use and misuse have gotten an actual a part of the dialog between physicians and sufferers,” Agarwal added in a college information launch. “I feel sufferers are extra conscious of the dangers and penalties of utilizing opioids and storing them of their properties.”

More info

For extra on the secure disposal of medication, go to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

SOURCE: University of Pennsylvania, information launch, May 6, 2022

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By Robert Preidt HealthDay Reporter

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, May 3, 2022 (HealthDay News) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning Americans to be careful for phony at-home, over-the-counter COVID-19 exams that look so much like the actual issues.

The counterfeit check kits could put you liable to unknowingly spreading the illness or not looking for acceptable medical remedy, the company cautions.

The phonies “are made to seem like approved exams so the customers will assume they’re the actual, FDA-authorized check,” the FDA mentioned in an announcement concerning the fakes. “The FDA is worried concerning the danger of false outcomes when individuals use these unauthorized exams.”

If you get a false studying that you do not have the coronavirus, you can inadvertently infect others at dwelling, at work or in medical and long-term care amenities. Also, you won’t search or may discontinue remedy for COVID-19, the company defined.

Two fakes the FDA is aware of of are counterfeit Flowflex COVID-19 check kits and iHealth Antigen Rapid Test Kits — you’ll find extra particulars on tips on how to spot the fakes on the FDA assertion. The package deal and elements of the Flowflex imitation may simply mislead shoppers searching for the approved Flowflex check.

Certain crimson flags may assist you to spot the counterfeits, in accordance with the FDA. They embody:

• Poor print high quality of photos or textual content on the skin field label or within the directions to be used included within the field.
• Missing data on the skin field label for the product, such because the lot quantity, expiration date or barcode or QR codes.
• Grammatical or spelling errors in product labeling.
• Kit elements that don’t match the content material description. For instance, lacking directions to be used, lacking or unfilled elements, totally different variety of elements than listed.
• The tradename for product printed on part or field labels differ from the approved labeling discovered on the FDA web site.
• The field label or printed directions to be used look totally different from the approved labeling discovered on the FDA web site.

The FDA has an inventory of approved at-home OTC COVID-19 exams. It just isn’t conscious of any counterfeit exams distributed by federal authorities check distribution applications.

Continued

What must you do in case you have one?

If you believe you studied you might have a counterfeit check, don’t use it. Contact the distributor or retailer the place you obtain it to inform them that you’ve a counterfeit check, and in addition inform the producer of the approved check, the company mentioned.

The producer could ask for added data resembling pictures of the packaging to additional examine the problem. After offering any requested data to the distributor and/or producer, comply with the producer’s directions for returning or disposing of the check.

Talk to your well being care supplier should you assume you had been examined with a counterfeit check and you’ve got considerations about your outcomes, the FDA suggested.

If you assume you had an issue with a COVID-19 check, you may report it by way of the FDA’s MedWatch Voluntary Reporting Form.

More data

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlines what you want to find out about COVID-19 testing.

SOURCE: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, information launch, April 28, 2022

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