West Virginia’s governor has signed legislation to limit opioid prescriptions that doctors can prescribe to treat acute pain. Gov. Jim Justice signed the bill last week that would limit such prescriptions to supplies lasting three, four or seven days, depending …
Health insurer Cigna said it has achieved a 25 percent reduction in opioid use among its customers as a result of a partnership with more than 1.1 million prescribing physicians. The company said it reached this key metric one year …
Using prescribed opioids adds significant time to temporary disability taken by workers with work-related lower back injuries, according to a new industry study. Temporary disability is time that workers spend away from work recovering from their work-related injuries. “While medical …
Hoping to stop people from “doctor shopping” for highly addictive painkillers, Louisiana lawmakers have ordered physicians to consult a statewide prescription monitoring program before prescribing opioid drugs. The Senate has unanimously approved minor changes the House had made to Sen. …
A county in New York state has sued Purdue Pharma LP, Johnson & Johnson and other drugmakers, accusing them of engaging in fraudulent marketing that played down the risks of prescription opioid painkillers, leading to a drug epidemic. The lawsuit, …
Alabama has the highest level of prescription opioid use in the country, and companies that make the painkillers and their allies have hired an average of 18 lobbyists annually in the state since 2006 to push their policies. A joint …
At first, the woman tried to hide her painkiller problem. She told the doctor that she still had pain from her past pregnancy, and that she just wanted a refill on her pain medication. After a few questions, though, she …
Limited opioid prescriptions, greater funding for addiction treatment and more support for people trying to stay clean: those are some of the proposals for attacking New York’s heroin and opioid problem released by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on June 9. The …
According to a study released by Centers for Disease Control (CDC), consumer out-of-pocket spending on opioids has declined, with insurers picking up more of the tab. The study found that consumer out-of-pocket spending on opioids per 100 morphine milligram equivalents …
The U.S. is in the midst of an opioid crisis. Deaths from prescription painkiller overdoses have quadrupled since 1999. To combat the epidemic, 49 states and Washington, D.C., have built computer systems intended to detect when people try to get …
