Latest Drugs Headlines
All the headlines from our Drugs Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida ‘Pill Mill’ Doctor Gets 350-Year Sentence
Feb 3 2014 // A South Florida doctor could get a maximum 350-year prison sentence for his conviction in an illegal prescription drug pill mill case. A Broward County jury last week found 54-year-old Dr. Thomas Rodenberg guilty of 14...
Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Comp Cracks Down on Pain Pills
Feb 2 2014 // The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation said it has stepped up monitoring of the millions of doses of pain pills prescribed to injured workers every year as the agency tries to control costs and fight rampant...
Former N.J. Pharmacist Admits Role in $1.5M Health Care Fraud Scheme
Jan 28 2014 // The former pharmacist-in-charge of a northern New Jersey pharmacy has admitted his role in a decade-long, $1.5 million health care fraud scheme involving twin brothers who owned the business. Federal prosecutors say...
Louisiana Clinic Worker Arrested for Prescription Drug Fraud
Jan 28 2014 // Baton Rouge, La., police have arrested one man accused of being part of a prescription drug ring in which more than 200 fraudulent prescriptions for the powerful pain-killing drugs oxycodone and hydrocodone from a Baton...
Ohio Workers’ Comp Bureau: Prescription Formulary Saves over $20M
Jan 24 2014 // The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) announced that changes made to its pharmacy management program in recent years have resulted in a reduction in prescriptions of some of the most commonly overused drugs...
Top 2013 Jury Awards: Price-Fixing, Nursing Home Liability, Defamation
Jan 14 2014 // U.S. juries awarded three verdicts of $1 billion or more for the third straight year in 2013, topped by a $1.2 billion award against Dow Chemical Co., the largest ever in a price-fixing case. Second was $1.1 billion...
Tennessee County Official Vows to Carry Out Own Workers’ Comp Drug Test
Dec 20 2013 // An East Tennessee official who refuses to enforce a county drug-testing policy says he’ll implement his own. Hawkins County Property Assessor Jeff Thacker told the Kingsport Times-News that he still disagrees with...
AIA Supports Curbing Physician-Dispensed Medications in Penn. WC System
Dec 6 2013 // The American Insurance Association (AIA) submitted a statement Wednesday to the Pennsylvania House Labor Committee, in support of state legislation aimed at controlling costs associated with physician dispensing of...
Oregon Murder-Suicide Lawsuit Blames Chantix Prescriber
Dec 2 2013 // A Eugene, Ore. woman whose husband killed the couple’s son and himself has sued the dentist who prescribed her husband a nicotine-cessation drug and the hospital that determined he was not a danger to himself or...
Lawsuit: California Student Recruited to Help in Drug Bust
Dec 2 2013 // The mother of a California middle school student has sued the school district, claiming her 14-year-old son was used as bait during an on-campus drug sting. The suit was filed against the Temecula Valley Unified High...
Lance Armstrong Settles $3M Insurance Lawsuit
Nov 22 2013 // A day before he was scheduled to give sworn testimony about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, Lance Armstrong reached a settlement on Nov. 20 with an insurance company that was seeking $3 million in performance...
Lawsuit: California Student Recruited To Help In Drug Bust
Nov 21 2013 // The mother of a California middle school student has sued the school district, claiming her 14-year-old son was used as bait during an on-campus drug sting. The Riverside Press Enterprise reported Wednesday the suit was...
Senate Joins House in Passing Compounding Pharmacy Oversight Bill
Nov 14 2013 // The Senate voted Tuesday to advance a bill designed to tighten government oversight of pharmacies that custom-mix prescription drugs, in the wake of last year’s deadly meningitis outbreak tied to contaminated pain...
Iowa State Troopers Target Out-of-State Drivers
Oct 23 2013 // Drivers with out-of-state plates are much more likely to be stopped by the Iowa State Patrol when they drive in the state. The Des Moines Register reviewed about 22,000 traffic warnings and tickets issued by the State...
Product Recall Capacity Needed for Life Sciences Segment
Oct 21 2013 // The life sciences industry has seen a dramatic increase in product recalls, and while insurance capacity for the life sciences industry generally has been increasing, insurers have been wary about offering more product...
Florida Enters Era of Workers’ Compensation Market Stability
Oct 21 2013 // Florida’s workers’ compensation system has reached a rare state of rate stability, according to insurers and officials. The agency, the National Council on Compensation Insurance, filed for a one percent...
Interesting but Quiet Year for California Lawmakers on Workers’ Comp
Oct 15 2013 // After the behemoth workers’ compensation reform law passed in 2012, state lawmakers this year enacted only a handful of measures that may affect or relate to workers’ compensation. Bills signed by Gov. Jerry...
Marketing, Not Medicine, Boosts Robotic Surgery, Misrepesents Safety
Oct 9 2013 // Porter Adventist Hospital in Denver announced last year that Warren Kortz, a general surgeon on the medical staff, was the first in the Rocky Mountain region to use a technique known as robotic surgery to remove gall...
Florida Welcomes Era of Workers’ Compensation Market Stability
Oct 8 2013 // Florida’s workers’ compensation system has reached a rare state of rate stability, according to insurers and officials. The agency, the National Council on Compensation Insurance, filed for a one percent...
Michael Jackson Wrongful Death Case to Change Tune for Entertainment Insurance
Oct 2 2013 // When Britney Spears takes the stage this December for the first of a heavily hyped 100-show two-year residency at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, the loudest cheers may come from her insurance underwriters. Along with the...
