Non-fatal overdose with a new synthetic opioid.

A young man experienced respiratory arrest at home, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed. The patient received naloxone with good effect and was admitted to hospital. He disclosed opioid use, but no substances were detected in routine drug screenings.

Oxazepam Detected in Urine 79 Days After Withdrawal of Diazepam: A Case Report.

Patients suffering from substance use disorder, including for instance benzodiazepines, may have comorbidity with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Centrally acting stimulants play an important role in the treatment of ADHD. Before such treatment can be initiated, withdrawal of benzodiazepines may be necessary.

An apathetic child with hallucinations.

Background: Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a potent, hallucinogenic substance that distorts the perception, state of consciousness and behaviour of the user. LSD poisonings are rare in children and may be difficult to recognise based on clinical symptoms alone.

Case Presentation: A young boy was admitted to the hospital because of bizarre behaviour and reduced responsiveness towards his parents.

Should more patients be offered treatment with cannabinoids?

Today, a small but growing number of patients in Norway are prescribed cannabinoids for medical use. Despite the large focus on their potential as medicines, there is limited scientific knowledge about the positive effects, adverse effects, long-term effects and interaction potential of cannabinoids.

Reference ranges for antiepileptic drugs revisited: a practical approach to establish national guidelines.

Background And Objective: Laboratories sometimes use different reference ranges for the same antiepileptic drug (AED), particularly for new and poorly investigated drugs. This may contribute to misunderstandings, concerns or inappropriate dose changes, which in turn may affect therapeutic effect, drug safety or treatment adherence. Therefore, the Norwegian Association of Clinical Pharmacology wished to update and harmonize the reference ranges for AEDs and establish national guidelines for Norway.

Cross-reactivity of the CEDIA buprenorphine assay in drugs-of-abuse screening: influence of dose and metabolites of opioids.

Purpose: The cloned enzyme donor immunoassay (CEDIA) for buprenorphine is applied for both urine drugs-of-abuse screening and compliance monitoring. Sensitivity, specificity, and optimal cutoff of this assay have differed between studies. This may indicate that cross-reactivity has to be taken into account during assay evaluation.

Pharmacology Portal: An Open Database for Clinical Pharmacologic Laboratory Services.

Purpose: More than 50 Norwegian public and private laboratories provide one or more analyses for therapeutic drug monitoring or testing for drugs of abuse. Practices differ among laboratories, and analytical repertoires can change rapidly as new substances become available for analysis.

Methods: The Pharmacology Portal was developed to provide an overview of these activities and to standardize the practices and terminology among laboratories.

[High incidence of work-related disease among asthmatics on sick-leave].

Background: We have previously shown that work-related asthma is substantially underreported and usually not notified to the Labour Inspection Authority until it has become chronic and interferes with future work. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether conditions relating to individuals are important for the susceptibility to work-related asthma and to assess whether there is a correspondence between patients' and physicians' perception of the importance of exposure to work in relation to the disease.

Material And Methods: Questionnaires were sent to 824 workers (56% women) aged 18-55 years, who had been on sick leave > 16 days in the years 2000-2003.