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Prescription Drug Abuse

Painkiller abuse is the biggest emerging substance abuse threat in Iowa, according to a report by the state’s Office of Drug Control Policy.

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.

Foundations can play a vital role in battling the epidemic of opiate overdoses. In addition to funding, some foundations have the expertise to provide technical assistance and can bring together communities and policymakers to devise solutions to this devastating public health problem, says Ann Barnum of The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati.

The number of prescription drug-related deaths decreased in Florida in 2011, according to a new report. Deaths related to oxycodone decreased more than 17 percent, according to The Miami Herald.

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.

Doctors and pharmacies in Colorado check the state’s prescription drug monitoring database only 10 to 15 percent of the time before dispensing opioids, according to a local Drug Enforcement Administration official.

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.

Teenagers and young adults are abusing prescription painkillers at a rate 40 percent higher than what would be expected for their age group, a new study finds.

While illicit drug use has decreased in most large American cities, prescription drug abuse has climbed, according to a new study.

A health campaign called the “American Medicine Chest Challenge” aims to educate the public about the dangers of prescription drug abuse. The campaign also provides safe options for disposing of prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

Florida needs more resources to help the many newborns exposed to opioids, experts told a statewide task force. They said the number of such babies far exceeds the number of treatment beds available for mothers addicted to prescription drugs, and their newborns.

Injecting the painkiller Opana ER can lead to a serious blood disorder that can result in kidney failure or death, the Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday.

The company that manufactures OxyContin is using a variety of ways to combat the abuse and diversion of prescription drugs. Purdue Pharma is monitoring drug counterfeiting and Internet distribution, analyzing pharmacy robberies and thefts, tracking the drug supply chain, and using unique tablet markings, phillyBurbs.com reports.

The scientific nonprofit group that sets standards for medicine safety is proposing reworking and standardizing medication labels, in an effort to reduce potentially dangerous medication mix-ups.

President Obama signed into law a measure that doubles sentences for pharmacy robberies, to 20 years, the Daily News reports.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has collected a total of two million pounds of unused prescription medications during its five National Prescription Drug Take-Back Days, the agency announced Thursday.

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.

The federal government will decide within the next month whether nurse anesthetists can be reimbursed by Medicare for treating chronic pain, The Wall Street Journal reports. Some doctors say such a move could complicate the fight against prescription drug abuse.

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.

For more than one-third of Texas’ Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who died after leaving the military, the cause was a drug overdose, a deadly combination of drugs, or suicide, according to an investigation by the Austin American-Statesman.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has described the country’s sharp rise in overdoses over the last decade from prescription painkillers, or opioids, as an epidemic. But it can be easy to lose sight of what “epidemic” truly means.

A national campaign launched this week aims to prevent half a million teenagers from abusing medicine within five years. CBS NewYork reports The Medicine Abuse Project is a multi-year effort to help educate parents, teens and the public about the dangers of medicine abuse.

As a growing number of states enact restrictions designed to clamp down on prescription drug abuse, some pain sufferers say they are not able to get the opioids they need, The Wall Street Journal reports.

A new government report finds that Medicare routinely refills pain medications without new prescriptions that are required by federal law.

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