opioid painkillers News

Could This New Drug Ease America’s Opioid Crisis?

So far, the fight against America’s opioid crisis has focused on treating addiction and curbing abuse. In February, President Barack Obama asked Congress for $1.1 billion to fund health care for addicts, and last month Congress allocated $181 million in …

Most Doctors Overprescribe Opioids: National Safety Council

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 month’s worth of opioids. Also, according to the survey by the …

Kentucky OxyContin Case Against Purdue Pharma Leads Fight Over Opioid Abuse

No one rises as Circuit Judge Steven Combs enters his courtroom in Pikeville, Kentucky. Combs wears a white shirt and yellow tie, no robe. Lawyers approach the bench as their cases are called, shake the judge’s hand and exchange small …

Painkiller Prescribing Varies By State, Highest in South; Florida Reverses Trend: CDC

Health care providers in some states prescribe far more painkillers than those in other states, according to a new government report. Health care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for opioid painkillers in 2012 – many more in some states than …