prescription drug epidemic News

3 Tennessee Prosecutors Join Forces in Suit Against Opioid Drug Makers

A new lawsuit invokes the plight of a baby born dependent on opioid drugs, as three Tennessee prosecutors and the baby’s guardian accuse several drug manufacturers of unleashing an epidemic through deceptive marketing about the risks of addiction to painkillers. …

Feds Grant $5.9M to West Virginia for Drug Addiction Fight

West Virginia will receive $5.9 million from the federal government to help fight drug addiction. U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins and Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin announced the grant Thursday from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. …

West Virginia Overdose Deaths Up 13% in 2016

Fatal drug overdoses in West Virginia continued to rise last year and its overdose death rate still far outpaces any other state in the country. A Feb. 13 analysis by the West Virginia Health Statistics Center shows at least 818 …

West Virginia AG Sues Pharmacy for Role in Fueling State’s Opioid Crisis

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 Pharmacy helped fuel the state’s opioid prescription crisis by …

Number of Prescription Drugs Dispensed in West Virginia Expected to Decrease

The number of prescription drugs being dispensed in West Virginia is on pace to drop to its lowest amount in five years. The number of controlled substances being dispensed is expected to fall to 268 million by the end of …

Unsealed Records Show Drug Firms Flooded Rural West Virginia With Painkillers

Information about pill shipments that prescription drug distributors being sued by the state had sought to keep secret show that the firms flooded rural West Virginia with hundreds of thousands of painkillers. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports a Boone County judge …

W. Virginia AG Announces New Initiative Against Prescription Drug Abuse

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey plans to purchase incinerators for the disposal of unwanted and expired prescription medication in a state that leads the nation in the rate of overdose deaths. Morrisey announced the move Tuesday as part of …

North Carolina Sees Dramatic Increase in Fatal Drug Overdoses

Officials say fatal drug overdoses in North Carolina have jumped from 2002 to 2014. The Charlotte Observer reports federal data shows that overdoses killed as many as 16 people per 100,000 residents in the state in 2014 compared to about …

South Carolina Prescription Drug Database Mandate to Take Effect April 1

Most doctors in South Carolina will soon be required to consult a statewide database of patients’ medical history as a way to combat the state’s rampant prescription painkiller problem. The changes will direct any doctor who wants to bill either …

West Virginia Hospital Association Releases Guidelines to Reduce Opioid Drug Abuse

The West Virginia Hospital Association Board of Trustees has endorsed a set of guidelines to help West Virginia’s hospitals reduce the misuse of opioid prescription drugs. Director of Communications Tina Rymer said in a news release Dec. 14 the guidelines …