Current medical research and opinion
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Naloxone hydrochloride, an opioid antagonist, has been approved as a concentrated 4 mg dose intranasal formulation for the emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose. This new formulation is easier to use and contains a higher dose of naloxone compared with earlier, unapproved kits. A survey of first responders and community-based organizations was conducted to understand initial real-world experiences with this new formulation for opioid overdose reversal. ⋯ This survey of data provided by first-responder and community-based organizations indicated that NNS was successful at reversing the effects of opioid overdose in most reported cases.
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To better understand the economic burden of gout patients in Taiwan, a nationwide retrospective study was conducted to compare the healthcare costs and utilization between gout and gout-free patients. ⋯ Gout patients had higher medical utilization and costs than gout-free patients. In gout patients, all-cause and gout-related utilization were mostly outpatient visits, whereas most of the all-cause and gout-related costs were due to hospitalization. The study findings could be useful for future economic evaluations and healthcare resource allocation.