Media Coverage
< back to Media Coverage| Date: Sep 18 2007 New Tool for MDs in Fight Against Painkiller Abuse |
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| New Tool for MDs in Fight Against Painkiller Abuse ALGORITHM DETERMINES WITH 95 PERCENT CONFIDENCE WHETHER PATIENTS TAKE PAIN MEDICATION AS PRESCRIBED,INDEPENDENT STUDY FINDS MIDLAND, TX (September 18, 2007) — An independent study demonstrated that Ameritox's RxGuardian hydrocodone algorithm predicts "with a 95 percent confidence limit” whether patients were taking their hydrocodone pain medication as prescribed. The study, conducted by Lifetree Clinical Research in Salt Lake City, UT, was presented at this year’s International Conference on Pain and Chemical Dependency (ICPCD) in New York City. The patented algorithm is exclusive to Ameritox, the nation’s leader in pain prescription monitoring. These results are particularly exciting for doctors across the United States who treat patients with pain medications. The data show that doctors have an extremely accurate tool to help ensure patients are taking their medications as prescribed, as opposed to diverting, supplementing, or abusing their medications. Twenty healthy volunteers participated in the Lifetree study, and received doses of hydrocodone, marketed in the United States as Vicodin, every six hours for 1.5 days. The doses were equivalent to 20, 60 and 120 mg per day, and urine samples were collected from the patients one hour before and after the last dose at each dosing level. RxGuardian’s algorithms combine patients’ demographics with prescription dose and laboratory results. This data is then utilized to determine normalized values for a patient. RxGuardian then compares these normalized values to established prescription-specific ranges to measure compliance. According to the data presented at ICPCD, confidence limit ranges of 95 percent were established regarding the accuracy of RxGuardian’s prescription-specific ranges for hydrocodone. "We are extremely pleased by the results of this study, which validates the ranges we use to measure patient compliance with prescribed pain medications,” said Dr. Ronald C. Backer, co-founder and laboratory director for Ameritox. "We believe accurate pain prescription monitoring should be a required element of every opioid therapy program, because it empowers doctors and their chronic pain patients.” About Lifetree Clinical Research Lifetree Clinical Research is a privately-held company, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. Lifetree's clinicians are recognized clinical and regulatory thought leaders in protocol design, implementation and oversight. Lifetree is dedicated to supporting the pharmaceutical, device, and biotechnology industries by providing unparalleled service and becoming an indispensable drug development partner. About Ameritox Ameritox is the nation’s leader in pain prescription monitoring. Only Ameritox offers RxGuardian, the most thorough and personalized lab report available. By comparing normalized values to established prescription-specific ranges, RxGuardian lets pain practitioners protect their patients by measuring compliance based on prescription regimens. RxGuardian also provides peace of mind to physicians and protection to their practice by providing data to help ensure that patients are taking pain medications as prescribed. With headquarters in Midland, Texas, Ameritox conducts thousands of monitoring screens per day. Molly Todd |
