Anti-Hydrocodone polyclonal antibody

Due to rising misuse, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) moved hydrocodone combination products (HCPs) from DEA Schedule III to DEA Schedule II in October 2014. Aside from increasing regulatory scrutiny, rescheduling may have increased the administrative burden surrounding HCP prescribing. This study explored how HCP rescheduling and associated administrative barriers may have affected physician treatment of acute (aNCP) and chronic (cNCP) noncancer pain. To this end, physician members of the Texas Medical Association completed a self-administered online questionnaire. Pharmacotherapy treatment plan was measured with two questions asking physicians whether they were more likely to recommend HCPs, acetaminophen/codeine (APAP/codeine), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), tramadol, or other agents for the treatment of aNCP and cNCP. Two Likert-scaled items were used to assess administrative burden. In total, 1365 physicians responded (response rate = 15.39%). Physicians more frequently selected APAP/codeine (37%) for aNCP and tramadol (44%) for cNCP. A majority (78.8%) of physicians agreed that rescheduling led to modified prescribing, and those in agreement were significantly less likely than those who disagreed to prescribe HCPs for aNCP (24.2% vs. 56.4%; chi(2) = 68.6, P < .001) and cNCP (16.9% vs. 37%; chi(2) = 36.1, P < .001). Rescheduling and associated administrative burden are both associated with modified physician HCP prescribing in both aNCP and cNCP.

Drug disposal programs have been seen as a remedy to the concern of environmental contamination resulting from pharmaceutical disposal down the toilet or sink; however a thorough review of peer-reviewed literature and publicly available information on these programs indicates limited research has been conducted to validate the effectiveness of these programs at reducing pharmaceuticals in the environment. The purpose of this research was to determine if drug disposal programs could actually reduce pharmaceutical residues in the environment. The concentration of hydrocodone in wastewater effluent released from a wastewater treatment plant in Denton, Texas was monitored before and after a take back program called Denton Drug Disposal Day (D4). Data collected and analyzed suggests D4 events were successful in contributing to a reduction of pharmaceutical loading to the environment; however there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate that D4 events were exclusively responsible for these improvements.