NIH identifies potential non-addictive opioid; Texas doctor charged with running prescription mill out of cash-only clinic; new $20 blood test from UCLA spots multiple cancers – Morning Medical Update

NIH researchers identify potent opioid compound with low addiction potential

The drug, DFNZ, is derived from a class of synthetic opioids that was shelved in the 1950s for being too powerful.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers have identified a novel opioid compound called DFNZ that produces strong, sustained pain relief in laboratory animals without causing respiratory depression, tolerance, dependency or the dopamine-driven reward patterns associated with addiction. Findings are published in Nature.

The compound is a metabolite of a synthetic opioid class called nitazenes, which were abandoned decades ago due to excessive potency, but which NIH scientists revisited with the goal of engineering a safer pharmacological profile. In animal studies, DFNZ provided analgesia lasting at least two hours, and repeated doses did not produce meaningful withdrawal effects. While animals did self-administer the drug, they stopped seeking it when it was replaced with saline — behavior that stands in contrast to what researchers typically observe with heroin, morphine and fentanyl. The team believes the compound may also have applications in treating opioid use disorder.

Texas physician charged with distributing millions of opioid pills from cash-only clinic

James Robles, M.D., allegedly sold prescriptions to crew leaders who recruited fake patients and resold the drugs on Houston's black market.

A Texas physician has been indicted on federal charges that he ran a cash-only Houston clinic as a front to sell prescriptions for oxycodone, hydrocodone and carisoprodol to street-level drug networks. James Robles, M.D., 70, of Weslaco, allegedly prescribed approximately 2.9 million hydrocodone pills, 1.3 million oxycodone pills and 1.1 million carisoprodol pills over four years, often without examining the people receiving the prescriptions.

Prosecutors say Robles sold the orders to "crew leaders" who recruited others to pose as patients, filled the prescriptions at complicit pharmacies, and distributed the drugs on the black market. More than $2 million in cash was deposited into bank accounts controlled by Robles over less than three years of the alleged conspiracy. Robles faces charges of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, distributing controlled substances and maintaining a drug-involved premises, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

UCLA blood test spots multiple cancers for less than $20

The analyzes DNA methylation patterns in the bloodstream to detect liver, lung, ovarian and stomach cancers, as well as several liver diseases.

Researchers at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Health have developed a low-cost blood test that can detect multiple cancers and other diseases from a single sample by analyzing methylation patterns in cell-free DNA circulating in the bloodstream. The test, called “MethylScan” and described in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, achieved 63% overall cancer detection across all stages and roughly 55% for early-stage cancers at a 98% specificity rate. For high-risk patients, including those with liver cirrhosis or hepatitis B, it detected nearly 80% of liver cancers. The test also distinguished between different types of liver disease with about 85% accuracy. By stripping away background DNA from normal blood cells before sequencing, the researchers say they can keep costs under $20 per sample.