Latest Drugs Headlines
All the headlines from our Drugs Topic Page, ordered by recency.
House Panel in Virginia Approves Bills Targeting Opioid Crisis
Feb 1 2017 // A House committee has approved seven bills aimed at fighting the opioid crisis in Virginia. The legislation would limit the prescription of medications containing opioids, establish guidelines for the use of opioids to...
Test Results Show Pennsylvania Workers Killed by Train Were on Drugs
Jan 31 2017 // Both maintenance workers killed by an Amtrak train near Philadelphia last year were on drugs when the crash happened, test results show, but that doesn’t appear to have factored into safety lapses and...
Indiana Doctor Faces 55 Felony Charges in ‘Pill Mill’ Case
Jan 30 2017 // An Indiana doctor accused of operating a “pill mill” saw as many as 100 patients in a single day and traded pain pills for work on his farm, federal investigators say. Dr. Tristan Stonger faces 55 felony...
Ohio Pharmacy Board: Painkiller Prescriptions Down 20% Since 2012
Jan 27 2017 // The state says the number of painkiller prescriptions continues to fall as Ohio battles a deadly addictions epidemic. Data released by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy show 631 million painkiller pills were dispensed to patients...
Wells Fargo Market Outlook Has Favorable News for Cyber Security
Jan 26 2017 // San Francisco, Calif.-based Wells Fargo Insurance released its 2017 Insurance Market Outlook and Employee Benefits Outlook reports showing this year’s property/casualty insurance market will again be favorable to...
Report: Drug Wholesalers Fueled West Virginia’s Opioid Epidemic
Jan 23 2017 // Drug wholesalers shipped 780 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills to West Virginia in just six years, a period when 1,728 people fatally overdosed on these two painkillers, according to an investigation by the...
In His Final Year, New Jersey Governor Christie Aims to Tackle Drug Crisis
Jan 17 2017 // Republican Governor Chris Christie said that he will focus in his final year in office on New Jersey’s drug epidemic, promising to limit the supply of opioid drugs doctors can initially prescribe and seeking...
More Drug Companies Vow to Limit Price Increases
Jan 13 2017 // Grappling with a backlash against high U.S. prescription drug prices, more pharmaceutical companies are pledging to limit annual increases to under 10 percent – but the tactic is doing little to salve critics,...
GOP-Led Senate Takes First Step Toward Ending Obamacare, 51-48
Jan 12 2017 // The U.S. Senate took the first step toward repealing Obamacare in a razor-thin vote early Thursday, even as House leaders were struggling to line up support for a vote later this week. The 51-48 vote fell almost entirely...
Some in Wisconsin GOP Softening on Medical Marijuana
Jan 9 2017 // As a marijuana extract used to treat seizures becomes more widely embraced, even by former Republican opponents, the conversation in Wisconsin is shifting to whether the time is right to approve medical marijuana. Assembly...
West Virginia Reaches Largest Settlement to Date with Individual Drug Wholesaler
Jan 5 2017 // West Virginia officials have reached a $3.5 million settlement with a wholesaler accused of flooding the state with millions of prescription pain pills. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced the settlement Tuesday...
Mississippi Officials Worry About Future Opioid-Related Problems
Dec 30 2016 // Mississippi officials are worried that the state could end up with an opioid problem like other states that have battled with drug addiction. The Daily Journal reported that Gov. Phil Bryant issued an executive order...
New York Announces Health Insurance Reforms to Combat Opioid Crisis
Dec 30 2016 // Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has announced that new health insurance reforms aimed at combatting New York State’s heroin and opioid crisis will go into effect January 1, 2017. These reforms were part of the legislative...
West Virginia Settles Opioid Lawsuits Against 2 More Drug Distributors
Dec 29 2016 // Two major prescription drug distributors have agreed to settle a West Virginia lawsuit alleging they fueled West Virginia’s opioid epidemic with excessively large shipments of painkillers into the state over several...
Update on the Opioid Epidemic in U.S.
Dec 28 2016 // Drug overdose deaths, including opioid overdose deaths, continue to increase in the United States, according to new data from the federal government. The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report of the Centers for Disease...
Top 12 Insurance Trends and News Stories of 2016: Countdown
Dec 27 2016 // In the year 2016, as in past years, there were the familiar or continuing stories including reinsurers still wishing and hoping for a hardening market; property/casualty insurance carriers reporting financial results...
Report: West Virginia Flooded with Painkillers by Drug Wholesalers
Dec 27 2016 // Drug wholesalers shipped 780 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills to West Virginia in just six years, a period when 1,728 people fatally overdosed on these two painkillers, according to an investigation by the...
West Virginia AG Sues Pharmacy for Role in Fueling State’s Opioid Crisis
Dec 19 2016 // West Virginia’s attorney general has sued a pharmacy in Boone County, alleging it provided too many highly addictive painkillers over more than a decade. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says Larry’s Drive-In...
Experts: Pilot of Crashed Texas Balloon on 10 Different Prescription Meds
Dec 19 2016 // The pilot of a hot air balloon that crashed in Texas in July took medications that should have precluded him from flying, medical experts said at a federal hearing on Dec. 9. Alfred “Skip” Nichols was killed...
Texas Mutual Offers Guidance on New OSHA Rules
Dec 16 2016 // Recognizing the complex nature of keeping up with rules promulgated by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), workers’ compensation insurer, Texas Mutual, has provided guidance on one of...
