All the headlines from our Drugs Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Apr 1 2016 // The Maine Legislature is poised to pass a bill sponsored by Gov. Paul LePage that would put the state on the front line of a national movement to monitor and restrict opioid painkillers.The Republican’s bill would...
Mar 31 2016 // West Virginia pharmacies are dispensing significantly fewer doses of the state’s most popular prescription painkiller, hydrocodone.The number of prescribed hydrocodone products dropped by nearly 13 million tablets...
Mar 30 2016 // Hawaii lawmakers are asking how much marijuana a driver can safely consume before getting behind the wheel of a car.It’s an issue they want to tackle now that Hawaii is setting up medical marijuana dispensaries, so...
Mar 28 2016 // Most doctors– 99 percent — are prescribing highly addictive opioid medicines for longer than the three-day period recommended, according to a national survey. Twenty-three percent prescribe at least a...
Mar 23 2016 // Short-acting opioid painkillers will carry strong new warnings under U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements announced on Tuesday that will bring information about addiction and abuse in line with that on...
Mar 21 2016 // The scribbled, cryptic doctor’s prescription is headed toward eradication in New York, where the nation’s toughest paperless-prescribing requirement takes effect this month.Instead of handing patients slips of...
Mar 17 2016 // The Pennsylvania House of Representatives took up a proposal this week to permit the use of marijuana for medical purposes, a potential breakthrough for supporters who have worked for several years to get legalization...
Mar 16 2016 // The American Insurance Association (AIA) lauded Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker for signing comprehensive opioid abuse legislation (H 4046) Monday.Opioids are synthetic versions of opium-derived drugs, many of which were...
Mar 16 2016 // The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new recommendations for prescribing opioid medications for chronic pain.The “CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, United States,...
Mar 9 2016 // Supporters and foes of legalizing marijuana gathered at the Massachusetts Statehouse on Monday to weigh in on a proposal that would allow the recreational use and possession of marijuana up to an ounce for those 21 and...
Mar 7 2016 // An examination of California workers’ compensation independent medical review decisions shows roughly nine-in-10 of disputed medical service requests reviewed by an IMR physician agree with the utilization review...
Mar 4 2016 // New Hampshire consumers can now compare prices on dental care and prescription drugs in addition to medical procedures through a state government website designed to help them save money on health care costs.The New...
Mar 1 2016 // Officials say fatal drug overdoses in North Carolina have jumped from 2002 to 2014.The Charlotte Observer reports federal data shows that overdoses killed as many as 16 people per 100,000 residents in the state in 2014...
Feb 23 2016 // Carroll County, Maryland, is poised to serve as a model for treating substance abuse across the state.The Carroll County Health Department plans to address changes to state funding of outpatient substance abuse services,...
Feb 18 2016 // An examination of California workers’ compensation independent medical review decisions shows roughly nine-in-10 of disputed medical service requests reviewed by an IMR physician agree with the utilization review...
Feb 10 2016 // Families of U.S. citizens murdered by drug gangs in Mexico sued HSBC Holdings Plc, claiming the bank can be held responsible for the deaths because it let cartels launder billions of dollars to operate their businesses.The...
Feb 9 2016 // Legislation to make drug makers reveal how much they spend marketing high-priced drugs has stalled in the Virginia General Assembly, at least for this year.Virginia state senators said the bill wasn’t ready for prime...
Feb 8 2016 // In 2015, the North Carolina General Assembly authorized and funded a study regarding prescription drug formularies in workers’ compensation claims brought by state employees. While this statute does not create a...
Jan 25 2016 // West Virginia’s attorney general has accused one of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical drug wholesalers of flooding the state with tens of millions of prescription pills in violation of state law.Attorney...
Jan 19 2016 // More than 11 years after pulling its Vioxx painkiller from the market, Merck & Co. agreed to pay another $830 million to settle litigation, raising its total payouts in lawsuits and government investigations to more...