Latest Drugs Headlines
All the headlines from our Drugs Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Declarations
Apr 20 2015 // Big Step Forward “This will be a big step forward in the city’s overall resiliency efforts as we prepare to deal with the future of extreme weather.” —New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on the Federal...
Pfizer Refutes Claims of Zoloft Link to Birth Defects
Apr 12 2015 // Pfizer Inc. researchers concluded last year that pregnant women taking Zoloft risked having babies with heart defects, according to evidence made public by a lawyer at the first trial of more than 1,000 lawsuits over the...
Former Alabama Athletic Director’s Family Suing Drug Makers for Wrongful Death
Apr 8 2015 // The daughter of former University of Alabama Athletic Director Mal Moore has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against two companies that manufactured, promoted and sold a heart medication he took. Heather Moore Cooke filed...
Oklahoma Prescription Drug Database Bill Signed by Governor
Apr 6 2015 // Doctors in Oklahoma would be required to check a new prescription drug database before prescribing certain addictive drugs under a bill signed into law by Gov. Mary Fallin. After the Senate voted 35-10 on March 31 for the...
How the ACA, Cyber and Benefits Impact Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities
Apr 6 2015 // The Affordable Care Act (ACA) led to an expansion in healthcare coverage for drug and alcohol addiction treatment in 2014 but that hasn’t led to much growth in the insurance market for this sector — yet....
Kentucky Lawsuit Against Oxycontin Makers Stalled by Deadline Dispute
Apr 1 2015 // What does it cost to miss a deadline? For the company that makes the prescription painkiller Oxycontin, the answer could be more than $1 billion. Kentucky is suing Purdue Pharma on claims that the company misrepresented...
Feds: $17.5M Tennessee Prescription Pill Ring Unprecedented
Mar 17 2015 // Federal prosecutors say a 51-year-old woman recently arrested in a prescription pill sting was running one of the biggest illegal drug networks east Tennessee has ever seen. Prosecutors were in federal court Friday in an...
Insurers, Drugmakers Tussle Over Drug Copay Caps
Mar 13 2015 // The battle over soaring U.S. drug prices is heading for the states. With the price of some treatments topping $100,000, patient groups are pushing for state laws to make sure insurers cover most of the costs. Their...
More States Eye Use of Drug Formularies in Workers’ Compensation
Mar 10 2015 // While workers’ compensation pharmacy benefit managers have been utilizing drug formularies to control prescription drugs costs and monitor medical treatments for a long time, states are now catching on. Drug...
N.H. Lawmakers Work to Tackle High Workers’ Comp Costs
Feb 23 2015 // If a worker in New Hampshire gets hurt on the job, an anesthetic injection can cost $763 under a workers’ compensation claim, compared to $298 for non-work related injuries. Surgical treatment for tendinitis in the...
Armstrong Hit with $10M Sanction in Dispute with Texas Promotions Insurer
Feb 16 2015 // Dallas-based SCA Promotions Inc., a specialist in insuring prizes, promotions and contests, announced that Lance Armstrong has been hit with a $10 million sanctions award by an arbitration panel hearing his dispute with...
Despite Fewer Claims, Louisiana State Employees’ Workers’ Comp Costs Rise
Feb 11 2015 // The number of workers’ compensation claims filed by Louisiana state employees dropped by nearly one-third over the last eight years, but claims costs for state agencies continued to surge higher, according to an...
Drugged Driving Increases While Drunk Driving Decreases
Feb 9 2015 // The nation’s decades-long campaign to combat drunk driving continues to make our roads safer, but use of marijuana and prescription drugs is increasingly prominent on the highways, creating new safety questions,...
Kentucky Doctor Accused of Prescribing Drugs that Led to 5 Patient Deaths
Jan 23 2015 // A doctor with offices in Louisville, Ky. and southern Indiana has been charged with prescribing pain medications that resulted in the deaths of five patients. The U.S. attorney’s office in Louisville said 47-year-old...
Did New Mexico Court Open ‘Pandora’s Bong’ With Nod to Pot for Worker?
Jan 22 2015 // A can of worms has been opened, the horse is out of the barn and the industry is gazing into Pandora’s Box. There is no shortage of idioms for workers’ compensation experts who are concerned over a decision...
Texas Officials Want Drug Database Moved from DPS
Jan 9 2015 // Some Texas lawmakers say prescription drugs can be bettered monitored by moving the state’s database out of the Department of Public Safety. House and Senate committees that studied the issue recommend that the State...
Incoming Mass. Attorney General Healey Targets Drug Abuse Problem
Jan 6 2015 // Massachusetts Attorney General-elect Maura Healey said Monday she was planning a major push against heroin and prescription drug abuse, including plans to expand the Massachusetts program that monitors prescription drug...
Pill Mill Law Shifts Prescriptions From Opioids to Weaker Meds: WCRI
Dec 31 2014 // A law banning physicians from dispensing certain strong opioids discouraged the doctors from prescribing those drugs at all, according to a new study, which also found that the doctors dispensed weaker nonsteroidal...
Trial Scheduled in Mississippi Casino Drug Ring
Dec 30 2014 // A federal judge has scheduled for Jan. 26 the trial of a Georgia doctor accused of recruiting casino workers in Biloxi to run a prescription pill ring. Dr. Sanjay Sinha of Woodstock, Georgia, is charged with one count of...
PCRB Proposes 5.99% Average Workers’ Comp Loss Cost Decrease in Penn.
Dec 19 2014 // The Pennsylvania Compensation Rating Bureau (PCRB) has submitted a filing of Pennsylvania loss costs and related rating values with a proposed effective date of April 1, 2015. PCRB said in its Circular No. 1636 on Dec. 15...
