Chronic Acetaminophen Overdose Case Study

Naloxone is an FDA approved overdose reversal medication. Naloxone is a prescription medication that when administered to an individual experiencing an opioid-related overdose restores the individual to consciousness and normal breathing (NAMSDL.org, 2016). Naloxone is always effective when administered correctly (NAMSDL.org, 2016). Since 2000, the drug overdose rate involving opioids has increased 200% (NAMSDL.org, 2016). Treatment centers, physicians and first responders in the rural areas of the United States need more access to naloxone to prevent opioid-related overdose deaths. The U.S Surgeon General Vivek Murthy stated, “People find themselves in overdose situations don’t have to lose their lives because family members or emergency responders don’t have access to the reversal drug naloxone” (Wolf, 2016). Expanding access to rural areas can save lives and prevent deaths.

America is struggling with a new epidemic that is taking several lives every day. “Prescription drug overdoses claim at least 40 lives daily” ("Prescription Drug Overdose," n.d.Para 1). The opioid crisis occurring across the nation is devastating. A major problem is that once patients become dependent on these prescription medications, they are reportedly seeking more affordable alternatives such as heroin or fentanyl. In addition, patients may be switching to heroin when their doctor suddenly discontinues the medication they have become dependent on. Chronic pain is a controversial issue because opioid management can be beneficial but also detrimental as seen in recent years. “Between 2002–2016, deaths soared by 533% nationwide, from under

As of 2014, 20,000 deaths were associated with narcotics and prescription drug overdoses in the United States. The most recent death of Prince has continued to keep the conversation of drug overdoses. Many patients use prescription drugs to control pain especially those with cancer. Drugs used to help patients can cause a serious addiction and may become dangerous with abuse.

A family member, friend, or other individual who is in a position to assist an individual who is apparently experiencing or at risk of experiencing an opioid-related overdose, is not subject to criminal prosecution for a violation of section 4731.41 of the Revised Code or criminal prosecution under this chapter if the individual, acting in good faith, does all of the following:

In the presented case scenario, we have Mr. Gil Martin who is a 55-year-old Hispanic male. He comes in to the clinic today with complaints of weakness, fatigue, and loss of appetite. A student nurse will be precepting your assessment of Mr. Martin and when collecting subjective and objective data it is important to pay close detail to all findings. Ultimately this patient was diagnosis with cirrhosis, which is an abnormal liver condition that leads to irreversible scarring of the liver (National Institute of Health [NIH], 2017), so during assessment we should pay attention to details leading to this diagnosis.

These categories are Natural remedies such as eating fruits for constipation, Over-the-counter drugs which can be legally bought without a prescription such as Tylenol, Prescription drugs which is an order written by a doctor to a pharmacist which can be many things used for many things, Tobacco products which contain nicotine such as cigars, Alcohol such as beer rum or wine, Illegal drugs which are substances that cannot be legally bought such as weed, and last but not least unrecognized drugs which can be found in products not classified as drugs such as

Many addictions to these opiates are caused by inaccurate treatment of pain by the patient’s doctors. According to Andrea M. Garcia, “Treatment of pain is inadequate due to uncertain diagnoses, societal stigma, the lack of effective treatments, and inadequate patient and clinician knowledge about the best ways to manage pain. Prescription painkiller overdose has reached epidemic proportions over the past decade.” When patients visit a doctor’s office due to pain, they often do not elaborate on the pain they feel or give accurate diagnosis of the pain they are experiencing. Patients will often over exaggerate their pain level in order to be prescribed higher doses of narcotics. Shoulder or knee pain is a very common complaint. Patients who

As per Center for disease control prescription opioid overdose kills 44 people a day. In the year 2013 there were 43,982 deaths from drug overdose. Prescription drugs accounted for 22,767 of these deaths. Opiates are the leading cause of prescription drug overdose deaths causing 16,235 deaths. Benzodiazepines contributed to 6,973 deaths. It is not uncommon to find a combination of drugs in prescription medication overdose deaths.

Child-resistant blister pack: (i) 250µm white rigid PVC (ii) 9µm soft aluminium / 35g/m2 glassine paper. Compliant with BS8404.

DILI is currently the leading cause of acute liver failure in the USA and Europe. In addition, DILI is also the primary cause of attrition in drug development and is one of the most common reasons for drug withdrawal from the marketplace, restrictions of indication and project terminations. Between 1969 and 2002 12 out of 76 drugs removed from the market were due to DILI [1]. Not only does the lack of specific detection of DILI lead to drugs causing harm and being removed from the market but false positives can also lead to unnecessary attrition and non-approval of drugs therefore preventing patients from accessing beneficial drugs and also creating an economical issue. The wide range of DILI clinical presentation and offending agents, the

His background was hypertension, diabetes mellitus and hypercholesterolaemia. He was initially seen in a primary clinic and underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy where a duodenal subepithelial lesion was found. He was diagnosed with lipoma by endoscopic ultrasonography. He was treated conservatively and subsequent abdominal ultrasound and colonoscopy findings were normal. The patient received 8 units of blood transfusion twice for iron deficiency anemia. However, the patient did not improve over three months, and had ongoing dizziness and nausea. He was then referred to this hospital for further investigation of gastrointestinal bleeding and known duodenal lesion. The patient denied weight loss or use of non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). His height and weight were 180.9 cm and 145.8 kg, with a body mass index (BMI) of 44.5

Inflammation is a defense reaction, whereby harmful factors are removed and tissue structure and function are restored. During the acute phase of inflammation, first neutrophils will arrive, followed by monocytes. The monocytes mature into inflammatory macrophages and will finally affect the function of the resident tissue macrophages [Figure 1]. These responses lead to swelling, redness, heat and often pain. Once the first stimulus is removed, the reaction will stop and the inflammatory cells will be returned to pre-inflammatory numbers. Prostaglandins play an important role in immune reactions and are therefore often targeted by anti-inflammatory drugs, such as non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). The specific role of prostaglandins and the mechanism of action of NSAIDs will be discussed (Ricciotti; FitzGerald, 2011).

It is important to rule out common causes of liver injury, such as alcohol, drug use, and viral hepatitis as well as other co-existing etiologies for chronic liver disease including alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, hemochromatosis, autoimmune liver disease (types 1 and 2), chronic viral hepatitis, and Wilson’s disease

Sampling: Under complete aseptic conditions, 8 ml of venous blood were collected .Each blood sample was divided and divided as follows: Tube A :4 ml were collected in plain tube, left to clot at 37ºC ,then centrifuged ,clear sera were separated and divided into 3 aliquots; the first one was used to determine liver function tests(total &direct bilirubin, AST, ALT, GGT,ALP, total protein and albumin) by using AU640 autoanalyzer. The second was used for measurement of alpha feto- protein by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using Human AFP ELISA kits supplied by Glory Science(Immunospec Corporation, 7018 Owensmouth Ave. Suite 103 Canoga Park, CA, 91303) and the third one used for detection of hepatitis markers antibodies (HBsAg, and HCV antibody) by direct sandwich assay using the ELISA Kit supplied by Adltis, Germany. The specimens were kept frozen at -20 ˚C until the time of assay, Tube B: 2 ml were collected in a sterile sodium citrate vacutainer tubes for immediate assay of prothrombin time, concentration and INR and Tube C: 2ml were collected in sterile vacutainer tubes containing EDTA for DNA extraction.

Liver synthetic functions are assessed by protein and coagulation factors synthesis. Decrease in protein synthesis affects albumin .nevertheless; albumin is not specific or sensitive enough to detect compromised function. Protein loss with ascites might decrease albumin levels; so