Latest Drugs Headlines
All the headlines from our Drugs Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Drug Use Common Among West Texas Oil Field Workers
Aug 1 2017 // Eddy Lozoya never failed a drug test in the three years he hauled water and sand across the West Texas oil patch, even though he used at least $200 a day in cocaine to keep his eyes open on brutally long days behind the...
California Workers’ Comp Drug Formulary Would Reduce Costs, Study Shows
Aug 1 2017 // Roughly one-in-three prescription drugs currently dispensed to injured workers in California will be no longer require authorization prior to dispensing under the state’s proposed workers’ compensation...
Viewpoint: Employers Rejecting Marijuana Users Will Pay a Price
Jul 28 2017 // In Youngstown, Ohio, the employment problem is not a shortage of jobs. Nor is it a shortage of workers. The problem is not stingy employers who don’t want to pay enough to attract good workers. Nor is the problem...
Jury Orders Punitive, but No Compensatory, Damages in AbbVie Drug Liability Test Trial
Jul 26 2017 // A federal jury in Chicago on Monday found AbbVie Inc. fraudulently misrepresented the risks of its testosterone replacement drug AndroGel and ordered the drugmaker to pay $150 million in punitive damages. The verdict,...
FDA Chief Gottlieb Eyes Overhaul of Opioid Regulation
Jul 25 2017 // The Food and Drug Administration, as part of a sweeping overhaul in how it regulates opioid painkillers, plans to look to some unusual allies to limit the flood of the addictive pills — health insurers and companies...
Study: Reforms Targeting Physician-Dispensed Drugs Have Mixed Results
Jul 24 2017 // A new study has found that state reforms to control the costs of prescription drugs by targeting reimbursements for physicians dispensing them are having some effect but that physician-dispensing still accounts for a large...
Missouri Finally Creating Prescription Drug-Monitoring Plan
Jul 20 2017 // Missouri became the final state to create a prescription drug-monitoring program on July 17 when Republican Gov. Eric Greitens signed an executive order aimed at combatting a scourge that killed more than 900 residents...
Massachusetts SJC Rules in Favor of Employee Fired for Medical Marijuana Use
Jul 20 2017 // The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled in favor of a woman who was fired by her employer for testing positive for her prescribed use of marijuana to treat a medical condition. The court found that because...
California Division of Workers’ Comp Issues Revised Drug Formulary Regulations
Jul 18 2017 // The California Division of Workers’ Compensation has issued modified proposed regulations to adopt the medical treatment utilization schedule drug formulary. The proposed rulemaking implements Assembly Bill 1124,...
States See Mixed Results from Reforms Targeting Physician-Dispensed Drugs: WCRI
Jul 12 2017 // A new study has found that state reforms to control the costs of prescription drugs by targeting reimbursements for physicians dispensing them are having some effect but that physician-dispensing still accounts for a large...
Illinois County Sues Opioid Makers
Jul 10 2017 // A southwest Illinois county is suing pharmaceutical companies, alleging the prescription painkiller epidemic is worse due to deceptive marketing. The Jersey County lawsuit was filed against the makers of opioids, including...
Pennsylvania a Leader in National Investigation into Sale of Opioids
Jul 10 2017 // Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is working with a bipartisan coalition of a majority of attorneys general from across the country in an ongoing investigation to evaluate whether manufacturers have engaged in...
3 Workers at Mississippi Psych Center Arrested for Running Drug Ring
Jul 7 2017 // Authorities say a prescription drug ring at an outpatient psychiatric center has led to the arrest of three health care workers. News outlets report 34-year-old Andrea Reene Opoku, 29-year-old Nikita Marie Piernas and...
Texas Workers’ Comp Draft Rule Requires Preauthorization of Compounded Drugs
Jul 6 2017 // The Texas Department of Insurance – Division of Workers’ Compensation is accepting comments through July 7 on an informal draft rule that requires compounded drugs to be preauthorized. The draft rule was...
Oklahoma AG Sues Prescription Opioid Drug Manufacturers
Jul 6 2017 // Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter has joined the ranks of state attorneys general who have sued manufacturers of opioid pain medication, alleging that deceptive marketing campaigns by the drug makers have fueled the...
Kentucky Pharmacist Gets 30 Years for Illegally Selling Pain Pills
Jul 6 2017 // A Kentucky pharmacist convicted of illegally distributing hundreds of thousands of prescription pain pills has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. The U.S. attorney’s office in Lexington said in a news...
84-Year-Old Florida Doc Accused of Illegally Distributing $10M in Pain Pills
Jun 29 2017 // Authorities say an 84-year-old Florida doctor is accused of illegally distributing $10 million worth of pain pill prescriptions. Dr. Williem Ouw was arrested June 15 and held in a Fort Lauderdale jail until his release...
North Carolina Passes Bill to Limit Opioid Prescriptions
Jun 29 2017 // Legislation designed to address North Carolina’s opioid abuse problem is headed to Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk. The House gave final approval Tuesday to a bill that would improve the rules on prescribing and...
How States Rate in Preventing Home, Auto, Work Accidents
Jun 28 2017 // No state goes far enough to protect its residents from leading causes of preventable deaths and injuries – commonly known as “accidents” – on the road, in homes and communities and at work, according to the...
Number of Compound Drug Prescriptions Falling in Texas Workers’ Comp System
Jun 26 2017 // A report released in May by the Texas Department of Insurance – Division of Workers’ Compensation shows that while the number of compounded drug prescriptions in the workers’ comp system grew between 2010 and...
