Latest Drugs Headlines
All the headlines from our Drugs Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Drug Deaths Outnumbered Highway Fatalities in Virginia for 1st Time Last Year
Oct 16 2015 // Deaths from heroin and opioid use outnumbered highway fatalities in Virginia for the first time last year, officials said. Records show that 728 Virginians died from drug overdoses in 2014, while 700 people died on the...
Nonmedical Opioid Use Declines But Prescription Disorders, Deaths Rise: JAMA
Oct 13 2015 // New research suggests that while new medical guidelines and increased public awareness of problems with the use of opioids to treat chronic pain may be helping to slow the number of new opioid users, the prevalence of...
Drugs Prices Much Higher in U.S. Than in Other Countries: Research
Oct 12 2015 // U.S. prices for the world’s 20 top-selling medicines are, on average, three times higher than in Britain, according to an analysis carried out for Reuters. The finding underscores a transatlantic gulf between the...
Mississippi Doctor Pleads Guilty to Involvement in Prescription Pill Ring
Oct 8 2015 // A Waveland, Miss., doctor accused of running a prescription pill mill has pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance outside the scope of a medical practice. The Sun Herald reports...
Kentucky Considering Roadside Drug Tests for Drivers
Oct 5 2015 // The Kentucky Office of Highway Safety is working with local county officials to evaluate a roadside drug test that could help police address the growing number of drivers who are high behind the wheel. The agency and...
Kentucky Considering Roadside Drug Tests for Drivers
Sep 25 2015 // The Kentucky Office of Highway Safety is working with local county officials to evaluate a roadside drug test that could help police address the growing number of drivers who are high behind the wheel. The agency and...
Clinton Targets High Drug Prices, Consumer Marketing
Sep 23 2015 // U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton proposed on Tuesday a $250 monthly cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs and other measures to stop what she called “price gouging” by...
Wearable Devices Being Used in Drug Trials, Medical Research
Sep 15 2015 // Pharmaceutical companies are enlisting Fitbits and other gadgets strapped to patients’ wrists, chests and skin as a way to bring drugs to market faster. What began as an aid for athletes and dieters to track their...
Study: In 1st Year, 2 Florida Laws Reduced Amount of Opioids Prescribed
Aug 19 2015 // Two Florida laws, enacted to fight prescription drug abuse and misuse in that state, led to a small but significant decrease in the amount of opioids prescribed the first year the laws were in place, a new study...
Utah Court Tosses $3M Verdict in Prescription Drug Overdose Suit
Aug 14 2015 // The Utah Supreme Court has overturned a $3 million verdict in a wrongful death suit against a doctor accused of prescribing a lethal amount of prescription drugs. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that the high court ruled...
Simple Solutions
Aug 3 2015 // Once upon a time a doctor on Main Street USA made the same diagnosis and prescribed the same solution for every patient. This was a long time before WebMD or even Marcus Welby, MD. Patients had to weigh their two options...
Woman Sues Oregon Pharmacy after Getting Wrong Drugs
Jul 30 2015 // A woman who says she had to be taken to the emergency room after a Fred Meyer pharmacy employee gave her the wrong prescription has filed a lawsuit. The Oregonian reported that Anna Bell filed a lawsuit last week seeking...
Study: Kentucky Prescription Drug Law Successfully Curbing Abuse
Jul 30 2015 // Prescriptions for painkillers and doctor-shopping by pill seekers have decreased since Kentucky passed legislation targeting prescription drug abuse, according to a University of Kentucky study. The law passed during a...
Most Maine Crimes Drop in 2014 Even as Drug Arrests Grow
Jul 23 2015 // The Maine Department of Public Safety says crime dropped nearly 15 percent last year, the largest drop in the four decades that the state has kept detailed records. Commissioner John Morris said Wednesday every crime...
Small Number Causing California Workers’ Comp Review Excess
Jul 20 2015 // A small number of physicians are responsible for a large portion of the independent medical review of workers’ compensation cases in California, a process that could be costing payers in excess of $100 million, a...
South Carolina Supreme Court Affirms Reduced Penalty in Drug Marketing Case
Jul 20 2015 // South Carolina’s highest court further reduced the penalty against a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary accused of deceptive marketing of an anti-psychotic drug. The decision was to substitute the verdict the court...
Opioid Abuse Rises in Construction, Manufacturing Sectors: CNA
Jul 20 2015 // CNA recently issued two new reports that examine the growing prescription opioid abuse epidemic and its effect on the U.S. workforce, focusing on the construction and manufacturing industries, which are particularly at...
Coming Soon: Marijuana ‘Breathalyzers’ for Police Testing of Drivers
Jul 14 2015 // As cannabis bans are relaxed in more U.S. states, the race is on to develop an instant roadside breathalyzer for police to test drivers who may be taking the “high” road. Vancouver-based Cannabix Technologies...
South Carolina High Court Further Reduces Penalty on Janssen Pharmaceuticals
Jul 13 2015 // South Carolina’s highest court further reduced the penalty against a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary accused of deceptive marketing of an anti-psychotic drug. The decision was to substitute the same verdict the...
Small Number Causing California Worker’s Comp Review Excess
Jul 8 2015 // A small number of physicians are responsible for a large portion of the independent medical review of worker’s compensation cases in California, a process that could be costing payers in excess of $100 million, a...
