Article

2025-02-12 Science & Technology

Two meds commonly prescribed together linked to higher risk of death

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Two drugs prescribed to millions of Americans could have deadly effects when taken together, doctors warn.

People prescribed both opioid painkillers and benzodiazepines such as Xanax have a 71 percent increased risk of dying from any cause, according to a new study.

Both classes of the drugs slow a person's breathing and taking them at the same time, a combination that led to the deaths of actors Heath Ledger and Philip Seymour Hoffman, raises the risk of lowering respiration so severely that a person completely stops breathing.

The new report - which looked at veterans affairs records - found patients were also 42 percent more likely to die by suicide.

Despite the heightened risks, researchers found, despite the known risks of taking both classes of drugs, 27 percent of veterans taking opioids were also given benzodiazepines.

According to the CDC, about 125million opioid prescriptions were dispensed to Americans in 2023 and the FDA reports approximately 92million benzodiazepine prescriptions were dispensed in the US in 2019 - the latest data the agency has available.

And in 2021, nearly 14 percent of all overdose deaths involving opioids also involved benzodiazepines, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Posted by Skidmark 2025-02-12 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11165 views ] Top

#1 If you thought Statins and Grapefruit was bad ...

Posted by Skidmark 2025-02-12 10:09|| 2025-02-12 10:09|| Front Page Top

#2 "slow a person's breathing"
Well, when you reach zero, ...

Posted by ed in texas 2025-02-12 14:39|| 2025-02-12 14:39|| Front Page Top

#3 Statins and Grapefruit

Pretty much any prescription meds and grapefruit, sadly. The list gets longer every time I look, whether making the medical effect stronger or weaker. A shame — I always loved the things and now I can’t have them.

Posted by trailing wife 2025-02-12 17:40|| 2025-02-12 17:40|| Front Page Top

#4 ^ Same here

Posted by Frank G 2025-02-12 18:08|| 2025-02-12 18:08|| Front Page Top

#5 I ate Indian River Pink Grapefruits for years and haven’t had one in over a decade

Miss them

Posted by Beavis 2025-02-12 18:21|| 2025-02-12 18:21|| Front Page Top

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