Narcotics

A new Government Accountability Office report concludes the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has contributed to a shortage of prescription narcotics and stimulants. Controlled substances such as narcotics and stimulants are regulated by the DEA because of the potential for abuse and addiction.

The percentage of Americans who take painkillers stronger than morphine is on the rise, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These drugs include oxycodone, hydromorphone, fentanyl and methadone.

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome is occurring at increasing rates across the nation, leaving states grappling with treating drug-dependent newborns and whether to charge, prosecute and incarcerate pregnant women who test positive for illegal drug use, explains Sarah Kelsey of NAMSDL.

One-fifth of patients who undergo surgery for orthopedic trauma, including broken bones, visit multiple doctors for painkiller prescriptions, according to a new study.

Two California counties have sued five drug manufacturers, accusing them of causing the country’s prescription drug abuse epidemic. The suit alleges the companies waged a “campaign of deception” in order to increase painkiller sales.

Overdose deaths from prescription narcotics tripled from 2009-2010, compared with a decade earlier, according to a new government report.

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.

Doctors are trying a new approach to pain management after surgery, in an attempt to reduce patients’ reliance on narcotic painkillers, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Food and Drug Administration has recommended tighter restrictions for products containing hydrocodone and other painkillers such as acetaminophen or aspirin. These combination products include Vicodin and Lortab.

As a growing number of doctors use urine drug tests in an effort to detect prescription drug abuse in their patients, they face ethical questions about the tests, according to The New York Times.

Two-thirds of pharmacists and 90 percent of doctors in Florida are not using the state’s prescription drug database, according to federal officials. A bill that would have required both professions to use the database failed to pass during this year’s session.

The Food and Drug Administration told lawmakers this month that the process of reclassifying hydrocodone combination products, in order to make them more difficult to prescribe, will be long, The Hill reports.

A survey of parents finds just one-third are very concerned about the misuse of prescribed narcotic pain medicine by children and teens in their community, according to HealthDay. Only one-fifth are very concerned about the misuse of these drugs in their own families.

Treatment admissions for people addicted to both benzodiazepines and narcotic pain relievers jumped 569.7 percent between 2000 and 2010, according to a new government report. Overall, substance abuse treatment admissions increased 4 percent over the same period.

The Drug Enforcement Administration is focusing on drug distributors in an effort to fight prescription painkiller abuse, The New York Times reports. In the past, the agency has tried tactics including arresting doctors and closing pharmacies.

Almost one in 12 injured workers prescribed opioids are still taking the drugs three to six months later, a new study finds. Drug testing and psychological evaluation aimed at reducing drug abuse are not conducted in these workers most of the time.

Pharmacist groups and drug chains have successfully lobbied against stricter controls on prescription painkillers, The New York Times reports. The proposed controls would have applied to hydrocodone products.

A new hand-held laser device, which can immediately identify illegal drugs, could be a big help to police in investigating and prosecuting narcotics cases, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has charged a major health care company and two Florida CVS pharmacies with violating their licenses to sell controlled drugs.

A Florida doctor has sued CVS for not filling his prescriptions, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Late last year, the company sent letters to a small number of doctors in Florida telling them it would no longer fill prescriptions they wrote for oxycodone and other Schedule II narcotic drugs.

As “pill mills” close in Florida due to increased law enforcement, the sale of opioids is booming online, according to the Palm Beach Post.

The number of narcotic-related emergency room visits in New York City jumped 40 percent between 2004 and 2009, according to a survey by the city’s Department of Health.

California is facing budget cuts that threaten to hamper efforts to fight prescription drug abuse at a time when more people in the state are illegally obtaining prescriptions.