Opioids have been the primary method used to manage pain for hundreds of years, however the increasing prescription rate of these drugs in the modern world has led to a public health crisis of overdose related deaths. Naloxone is the current standard treatment for opioid overdose rescue, but it has not been fully investigated for potential off-target toxicity effects. The current methods for pharmaceutical development do not correlate well with pre-clinical animal studies compared to clinical...

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has set goals to eliminate hepatitis C (HCV) as a global health threat by 2030. To meet this goal, Australia must increase testing and diagnosis, including expanding access to care through community pharmacists. This study aims to explore community pharmacists' preparedness to discuss and offer HCV testing and treatment. Australian community pharmacists from four states completed an online anonymous quantitative survey between August and October 2023....

Fentanyl and its derivatives (nonpharmaceutical fentanyl, NPFs) represent the largest group among synthetic opioids. Fentanyl-related deaths and fatalities from tampering with pharmaceutical products have been reported. Furthermore, in the United States, adulterants such as xylazine and other substances, including the nitazenes class of opioids, have been found in an increasing number of unintentional overdose deaths, drug seizures, and reports of use by recreational drug users. Monitoring the...

CONCLUSIONS: A prehospital MOUD program can be established to expand access to early treatment and continuity of care for patients with OUD. The program was well-received by the local city fire department and QRT. There is a plan to expand the prehospital MOUD program to other local fire departments with QRTs.