A counterfeit form of the drug Adderall is being sold online, the Food and Drug Administration warned this week. Adderall, prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy, also is used illicitly to increase attention and get high, the Los Angeles Times reports.
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.
Prescriptions for controlled substances in Tennessee jumped 23 percent from 2010 to 2011, the Associated Press reports. The increase occurred despite efforts to address the state’s prescription drug abuse epidemic.
A new study concludes that throwing away unused prescription drugs in the trash may be the most environmentally friendly option.
Drug wholesale company Cardinal Health said Tuesday it will suspend shipments of controlled substances from a warehouse in Florida for two years, under an agreement with the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will create a 12-member investigative unit, based in Cleveland, which will focus on prescription drug cases. The unit will include agents from the DEA, FBI, and local law enforcement agencies.
Stolen or fabricated prescription pads are contributing to the surge in prescription drug abuse, experts say. There is a growing call for computer systems that directly link doctors to pharmacies, to avoid this problem.
The Senate Finance Committee announced they have opened an inquiry that will look at financial ties between prescription painkiller manufacturers and pain experts, patient advocacy groups and bodies that set guidelines on physicians’ use of the medications.
Ohio Governor John Kasich has announced new guidelines to fight prescription drug abuse, which aim to restrict painkiller prescriptions written in hospital emergency rooms.
A new study finds 13 percent of high school seniors have used prescription opioids for non-medical reasons. Overall, nearly one in every four high school seniors in the United States has had some exposure to prescription painkillers, either for medical or non-medical reasons.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the state’s largest health insurer, is instituting a policy to reduce prescription drug abuse, by limiting the amount of pain medicine most patients can get without prior approval from the company.
Dozens of suspects across the country have been arrested and charged with stealing prescription drugs from tractor trailers and warehouses. Two brothers are accused of stealing more than $70 million of prescription drugs from a warehouse in Connecticut.
Americans turned in 276 tons of unwanted or expired medications during the fourth National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day last week, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced.
About 15 percent of health care providers in New York City wrote more than 80 percent of all opioid painkiller prescriptions in 2010, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has signed into law a bill that aims to curb prescription drug abuse. The measure was opposed by the Kentucky Medical Association, which now says it will educate its members about the new law.
Prescription drug abuse is perhaps our nation’s most significant drug problem, and trends over the past decade indicate this problem will only worsen, particularly among young adults and teens. While the DEA and law enforcement represent an important dimension in this fight, we are not the only ones, says DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart.
New research indicates almost two-thirds of Americans do not follow their physician’s orders correctly when they take prescription drugs. They don’t take their medication, or use pills that were not intended for them, The Wall Street Journal reports.
A new national survey finds people who abuse prescription painkillers for the first time often get their pills for free from family or friends. Those who chronically abuse prescription painkillers are more likely to obtain the pills from doctors or dealers.
The Justice Department announced that Walgreens has agreed to pay the government $7.9 million to resolve allegations the company gave people enrolled in government-run health programs $25 gift cards if they moved their prescriptions over to the pharmacy chain.
A bill that aims to curb prescription drug abuse in Kentucky is stirring debate among politicians, physicians and law enforcement officials, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Poisoning deaths among teenagers rose 91 percent between 2000 and 2009, primarily due to prescription drug abuse, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Scientists are working to make prescription painkillers and other commonly misused drugs “unabusable” by reformulating them, according to Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Drug Enforcement Administration officials say criminal scam artists are selling prescription drugs online, then using customers’ personal information to blackmail them.
All states must link their prescription drug monitoring programs in order to successfully fight “pill mills” and painkiller abuse, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear said this week at the National Rx Drug Abuse Summit in Orlando.
Legislative leaders in New York, along with the offices of Governor Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, are negotiating measures designed to curb “doctor shopping” for prescription painkillers.
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