The Latest News from Our Field

Massachusetts cannot ban the new pure hydrocodone drug Zohydro ER (extended release), a federal judge said Monday. The company that makes the drug, Zogenix, argued in a lawsuit that the ban is unconstitutional, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Almost one-quarter of pregnant women enrolled in Medicaid in 2007 filled a prescription for opioids, a new study finds. The risks of opioids to a developing fetus are largely unknown, The New York Times reports.

A bipartisan group of senators has formed to fight prescription drug abuse, according to The Hill. The group will look for innovative solutions to opioid abuse.

E-cigarette makers are targeting young people with free samples distributed at music and sporting events, according to an investigation by 11 Democratic members of the U.S. House and Senate. The companies are also running radio and television ads during programs aimed at young people, the lawmakers said.

A vending machine that dispenses marijuana will soon be open for business in Colorado, NPR reports. The machine is able to verify a customer’s age, according to its creators.

Following the decision by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to order a ban on prescribing and dispensing the pure hydrocodone painkiller Zohydro, Vermont’s governor announced an emergency order to make it more difficult for doctors to prescribe the drug.

A new government report finds twice as many adult men as women entered substance abuse treatment facilities in 2011. The report found 1.2 million men, and 609,000 females, entered such facilities that year.

No other major retailers have joined CVS in pledging to pull tobacco from store shelves, the Associated Press reports. CVS, the nation’s second largest drugstore chain, announced earlier this year it will stop selling tobacco products by October 1.

Advocates of medical marijuana came to Capitol Hill this week to urge legislators to pass a measure that would ban the federal government from restricting state medical marijuana laws.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, April 4- Thursday, April 10, 2014.

The recent spike in heroin deaths—which is real-- is being attributed to heroin mixed with fentanyl. We wring our hands about overdoses, but do little to make effective treatment widely available. Policy changes must be made to end this scandal explains David L. Rosenbloom, PhD, Professor at Boston University School of Public Health.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the state’s largest health insurer, announced it has reduced prescriptions of narcotic painkillers by about 6.6 million pills in the past 18 months.

People seeking treatment for heroin addiction face a number of obstacles, including a lack of treatment beds, expensive care, and insurance companies that refuse to pay for inpatient rehab, according to ABC News.

About 3.7 million Americans, who live in states that have not expanded their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act, suffer from mental illness, psychological distress or a substance use disorder and don’t have health insurance, according to a recent report.

Employers in states where marijuana is legal for medicinal or recreational use must decide how to handle employees who use the drug when they are not on duty, USA Today reports.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a handheld device that delivers a single dose of the opioid overdose antidote naloxone, The New York Times reports.

Major obstacles remain to expanded treatment for addiction through the Medicaid program, according to USA Today. Although the Affordable Care Act requires treatment be offered to people who are newly insured through insurance exchanges or Medicaid, experts say a federal law is limiting available beds nationwide.

Democratic governors around the country are reluctant to support the legalization of marijuana, despite enthusiasm for the idea among voters in their party. The New York Times reports the governors are concerned about managing legalization, as well as being perceived as being soft on crime by Republicans.

Poison control centers are reporting an increase in the number of calls they are receiving for nicotine poisoning from e-cigarettes. This February, centers received 215 calls, compared with about one per month in 2010.

A new survey finds 75 percent of Americans think it is inevitable that recreational marijuana will become legal across the country, ABC News reports. The survey also found a growing number of Americans support ending mandatory minimum prison sentences for non-violent drug offenders.

Contrary to the advice of many medical groups, more emergency departments are giving headache patients prescriptions for powerful narcotic painkillers, according to a new study.

A bill designed to overhaul the mental health care system in the United States has spurred debate among advocates for the mentally ill, The New York Times reports. Some groups oppose the measure because it includes provisions for expanded use of involuntary outpatient treatment.

College students who consume energy drinks are more likely than their peers who don’t use them to abuse prescription drugs, a new study concludes. The more energy drinks a student consumes, the greater their risk.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, March 28- Thursday, April 3, 2014.

Parents do have an influence on teens’ decisions about drinking, according to a new survey by Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Teens are much less likely to drink if their parents tell them underage drinking is completely unacceptable, the survey found.