Opioid ODs Have Cut Into U.S. Life Expectancy: CDC

TUESDAY, Sept. 19, 2017 -- Rising death rates from opioid abuse are chipping away at Americans' life spans, a U.S. government study finds.

Between 2000 and 2015, researchers found, U.S. life expectancy increased overall -- from nearly 77 years to 79 years.

Early Rotator Cuff Surgery Helps Return to Activity

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 23, 2017 -- Early surgery to fix tears in a shoulder rotator cuff muscle is a good idea because it improves strength, function and other outcomes in the long term, a new study from France finds.

Researchers also believe this kind of repair can prevent the rotator cuff muscle from deteriorating.

Marijuana May Help Ease Nerve Pain, Review Finds

MONDAY, Aug. 14, 2017 -- Marijuana may be slightly effective at reducing chronic nerve pain known as neuropathy. But there's little evidence on whether or not pot helps treat other types of pain or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a pair of new studies suggests.

The findings on neuropathy "fit generally well with what we know," said Dr. Sachin Patel of the Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital in Nashville. Patel wrote a commentary accompanying the review in the Aug. 15 online edition of Annals of Internal Medicine.

2 of 3 U.S. Patients Keep Unused Painkillers After Surgery

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 2, 2017 -- Surgery patients are usually prescribed opioids to ease postoperative pain, but more than two-thirds end up with leftover narcotics and don't get rid of them, according to a new report.

Moreover, most patients who have the extra opioid pills don't lock them away, but leave them accessible to possible abuse by others, the researchers said.

Doctors May Be Over-Prescribing Seizure Drugs to Treat Pain

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 2, 2017 -- Physicians might be relying too heavily on "off-label" use of epilepsy drugs as an alternative to prescribing narcotic painkillers, two experts in internal medicine contend.

Doctors are prescribing the anti-seizure drugs gabapentin (Neurontin) and pregabalin (Lyrica) to treat pain more frequently, partly in response to the opioid epidemic in the United States, said Dr. Allan Brett. He's a professor of clinical internal medicine with the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia.