More Long-Term Opioid Prescriptions Drive Increasing Use
While opioid prescribing burgeoned over the last decade or so, prescriptions for long-term narcotics grew even faster. How much more common are 90-day or longer prescriptions for opioids in recent years compared with 1999?

What Are CKD Risks With Intensive Blood-Pressure Lowering?
A somewhat controversial study, SPRINT, suggested that more aggressive blood-pressure lowering reduced cardiovascular risks. A new subgroup analysis looked at one aspect of the study—the risk of chronic kidney disease. Here are the results.

Nearly All Antidepressants for Chronic Pain Present
Side-Effect Issues
Low-dose antidepressants often are prescribed to help chronic pain patients, but the side effects can be bothersome. A new study compares side effect profiles of the different therapies to help match each patient with the best drug. Here’s what the researchers report.

Short-term Type 2 Diabetes Risk Not Increased With
PCSK9 Inhibitors
PCSK9 Inhibitors have been touted as a way to significantly increase LDL cholesterol levels in patients who don’t always respond to other medications. The concern, however, has been about the drug’s effect on insulin production. Here’s why researchers suggest that the benefits appear to outweigh those risks.