Massachusetts officials are struggling to figure out how the state’s new medical marijuana law will impact health care professionals. Because marijuana is still illegal under federal law, health workers who use medical marijuana may endanger their licenses, according to WBUR.
Many doctors don’t ask their teenage patients about their drinking, a new study finds. A survey of 10th graders found that while more than 80 percent had seen a doctor in the past year, only 54 percent of them were asked about drinking, and 40 percent were advised about the dangers of alcohol.
Doctors miss drinking problems in almost three-fourths of patients because they don’t conduct alcohol screening, a new study finds. Instead, many doctors rely on gut feelings about whether a patient is engaging in problem drinking.
New government guidelines recommend primary care doctors counsel children and teens not to start smoking. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force concluded that prevention is more effective than trying to get youth to stop smoking once they’ve started.
State prescription drug monitoring programs should use advances in health information technology to make the systems easier to use, according to a new government report. The programs should incorporate prescription drug monitoring data into the workflow of doctors and pharmacists, recommends the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
A small number of doctors are linked to a large percentage of prescription drug-related deaths in Southern California, according to an investigation by the Los Angeles Times.
Programs designed to treat physicians’ substance use disorders have too little oversight and no clear standards, according to two experts from Harvard Medical School.
Doctors’ concerns about receiving negative reviews on consumer ratings websites may influence their decision to write opioid prescriptions for patients who request them, according to an opinion piece in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine.
The number of doctor visits for substance use disorders increased 70 percent among American adults between 2001 and 2009, according to a new study. The increase appears to be driven in large part by prescription drug abuse, the researchers said.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy has launched a new online training program to help doctors prescribe opioids more safely and effectively. The program’s goal is to reduce prescription drug abuse, The Boston Globe reports.
Doctors and nurses should routinely screen their adult patients and pregnant women for alcohol misuse, and provide those engaged in risky or hazardous drinking with brief behavioral counseling, according to new recommendations from a national task force.
The federal government has launched two pilot programs designed to make prescription drug monitoring programs easier for doctors to use, American Medical News reports.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has revoked the licenses to dispense controlled substances for two CVS pharmacies in Florida, after accusing them of dispensing excessive amounts of oxycodone.
A national training program launched last year is seeking to address the scarcity of physicians trained in treating addiction. The program, sponsored by the American Board of Addiction Medicine, aims to attract more doctors to the field, The Washington Post reports.
A new government study finds one-third of doctors do not accept new Medicaid patients. Most of the doctors cited low reimbursement as the reason, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Doctors often miss alcohol problems in their patients who are not intoxicated at the time of their visit, a new study finds.
Physicians and other prescribers will not be required to take educational courses under a new government plan aimed at reducing prescription drug abuse. The Wall Street Journal reports the plan does compel the makers of extended-release painkillers to fund courses for doctors and provide safety information to patients.
Two emergency medicine experts have proposed what they call “ideal” prescription drug monitoring software, in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine.
A new video game helps doctors learn how to determine if patients asking for painkillers truly need them. The game is part of an effort at Northwestern University in Chicago to help physicians fight prescription drug abuse.
A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the Drug Enforcement Administration can suspend the sale of controlled substances at two Florida CVS pharmacies. The decision lifts a temporary order earlier this month that allowed the pharmacies to continue dispensing controlled medications.
An appeals court ruled Wednesday that CVS can continue to sell controlled drugs at two pharmacies in Florida. The ruling blocks an order by the Drug Enforcement Administration to suspend shipments of the drugs.
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) acted appropriately in suspending the controlled-substances licenses of two CVS stores in Florida. The DEA charged the stores had failed to closely monitor sales of oxycodone.
When the Drug Enforcement Administration recently charged a major health care company and four pharmacies with violating their licenses to sell controlled drugs, it marked the most aggressive efforts by the agency to combat prescription drug abuse, The Wall Street Journal reports.
A federal judge has granted CVS a temporary restraining order, which will allow the company to continue to sell controlled prescription drugs at two pharmacies in Florida. The Drug Enforcement Administration raided the pharmacies last weekend and suspended their licenses to dispense controlled substances.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has charged a major health care company and two Florida CVS pharmacies with violating their licenses to sell controlled drugs.
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