opioids

By  Alexandra Mullin and Ian Chiang 01:16 pm January 29, 2021
The alarming scale of the opioid use disorder (OUD) epidemic has resulted in unprecedented human and economic devastation, and there is significant opportunity for digital tools to alter the gold standard of care to one that is ongoing and on-demand. The epidemic has only worsened since the onset of COVID-19, given heightened economic instability, social isolation, disruption to transportation...
By  Dave Muoio 01:55 pm November 5, 2020
A recently published review of real-world claims data suggests that opioid use disorder patients prescribed Pear Therapeutics' reSET-O digital therapeutic, alongside pharmacotherapy, had fewer clinical encounters and subsequently decreased medical costs over a six-month period. The study was funded by Pear, coauthored by a Pear employee and published in the journal Expert Review of...
By  Dave Muoio 04:21 pm January 28, 2020
San Francisco-based EHR developer Practice Fusion has agreed to pay $145 million alongside an admission that it “solicited and received kickbacks from a major opioid company” in exchange for clinical decision support (CDS) alerts promoting unnecessary prescription opioids, according to a release from the US Department of Justice. In a settlement announced yesterday (and hinted at in an earnings...
By  Laura Lovett 02:36 pm January 31, 2019
This morning San Francisco-based telemedicine platform HeyDoctor announced that its customers will now be able to receive naloxone, including Narcan, through its website and mobile app.  Users will first go through a text chat-based consultation with a physician on HeyDoctor about how and when to use the medication, which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. The prescription can then be...
By  Jonah Comstock 04:00 pm December 3, 2018
The FDA has announced the winners of the opioid addiction innovation challenge the agency launched last May. Out of more than 250 applications from medical device developers, the FDA selected eight winners.  "While these products will not automatically receive marketing authorization from the FDA, the device developers will receive increased interaction with CDRH experts, guidance for clinical...
By  Laura Lovett 12:16 pm October 25, 2018
In one of the few and far between bipartisan bills to be passed during this administration, President Donald Trump signed into law yesterday a new package aimed to help tackle the opioid epidemic, called the Support for Patients and Communities Act.  The latest legislation expands opioid-specific telemedicine services, exempting the technology from certain requirements. It also modifies the...
By  Jonah Comstock 04:47 pm June 28, 2017
Baltimore-based emocha Mobile Health has been awarded a $1.7 million Fast Track Small Business Innovation Research award by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The company will use the grant for a feasibility study of its digital direct observation therapy tech. Emocha is an acronym for “electronic mobile comprehensive health application”. The company has been developing an app for...