opioid abuse News

Opioid Crisis Spills Into Workplaces

At Philip Tulkoff’s food-processing plant in Baltimore, machines grind tough horseradish roots into puree. “If you put your arm in the wrong place,” the owner says, “and you’re not paying attention, it’s going to pull you in.” It’s not a …

Breaking Doctors of the Habit of Prescribing Opioids

Even doctors can be addicted to opioids, in a way: It’s hard to stop prescribing them. Melissa Jones is on a mission to break doctors of their habit, and in the process try to turn the tide of the painkiller …

North Carolina Drug Control Bill Seeks to Add More Restrictions on Doctors, Pharmacists

North Carolina lawmakers can save patients’ lives, spare their families and combat an ongoing opioid-abuse crisis by putting tighter controls on physicians and pharmacists who hand out powerful pain-killing medicines, supporters of a drug control bill said Thursday. The plan …

New Jersey Doctor Faces Strict Liability Charge in Deadly Sale of Pain Pill Scripts

A New Jersey doctor was indicted Thursday on charges that he sold prescriptions for addictive opioid painkillers to people who had no medical need for them, including one man who died from an overdose. Dr. Byung Kang, of Little Falls, …

Written Opioid Prescriptions Down 10% in Wisconsin

A state system to track prescription painkillers in Wisconsin to prevent abuse shows a nearly 10 percent drop in the number of opioid prescriptions written and filled compared to this time last year. Wisconsin’s Controlled Substance Board recently published its …

Pro-Painkiller Echo Chamber Shaped Policy Amid Drug Epidemic

For more than a decade, members of a little-known group called the Pain Care Forum have blanketed Washington with messages touting prescription painkillers‘ vital role in the lives of millions of Americans, creating an echo chamber that has quietly derailed …

Fatal Car Crash Study Suggests Medical Marijuana May Help Curb Opioid Abuse

A study conducted at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health found that there were fewer drivers killed in car crashes who tested positive for opioids in states with medical marijuana laws than before the laws went into effect. The …

California Legislation Cracks Down on Opioid Doctor Shoppers

As a defensive strong safety on his high school football team, Aaron Rubin was no stranger to injury treatment. He’d apply ice, take ibuprofen and – unbeknownst to his parents – self-medicate with prescription drugs. Over time, as treatment turned …

Training to Curb Painkiller Abuse Expanded by US Medical Schools

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 …

Ohio Pharmacists Take on New Role in Battle Against Addictions

A tool for helping battle Ohio’s deadly addictions epidemic is adding new dimensions to the jobs of pharmacists. A state computerized reporting system gives pharmacists quick access to patients’ prescribing histories as they weigh whether to fill suspicious prescriptions. It’s …