Latest Drugs Headlines
All the headlines from our Drugs Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Drugmaker Roche Wins Reversal in Accutane Duty to Warn Case
Aug 5 2014 // Roche Holding AG won reversal of a $2.1 million verdict by a New Jersey jury in favor of a California woman who blamed the company’s Accutane acne drug for her inflammatory bowel disease. A judge erred in the 2011...
Louisiana Parish Audit Finds Most School Bus Drivers Not Drug-Tested
Jul 29 2014 // An internal audit has found that the Caddo Parish school system has been testing far fewer bus drivers than it should for drugs and alcohol. Federal regulations require random testing each year of at least half the...
Painkiller Prescribing Highest in South; Florida Reverses Trend
Jul 21 2014 // 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...
Painkiller Prescribing Varies By State, Highest in South; Florida Reverses Trend: CDC
Jul 2 2014 // 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 –...
Virginia’s Monitoring Program Fights ‘Doctor Shopping’ for Prescription Drugs
Jul 1 2014 // The fidgety patient stood a bit too close to the counter at DownHome Pharmacy in Roanoke, Virginia, and chatted a bit too eagerly. She had no insurance, she said, and would be paying cash for her prescription for Norco, a...
Court Tosses Liability Claims Against Painkiller Drugmakers
Jul 1 2014 // A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the dismissal of nearly all claims in 68 cases seeking to hold drug makers liable for injuries from the use of the prescription painkillers Darvon and Darvocet, which were pulled...
More Drivers ‘Under the Influence’ Testing Positive for Multiple Drugs
Jun 27 2014 // Since 1993, the profile of a drugged driver has changed substantially. More drivers are now testing positive for prescription drugs, cannabis, and multiple drugs, and they are more likely to be older than 50, according to...
250 More Former Players Join Drug Abuse Lawsuit Against NFL
Jun 6 2014 // Former NFL star Marcellus Wiley added his name to a lawsuit accusing America’s most popular pro sports league of illegally dispensing powerful narcotics and other drugs to keep players on the field without regard for...
Tennessee Unveils Plan to Curb Prescription Drug Abuse
Jun 5 2014 // Gov. Bill Haslam and Commissioner of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Douglas Varney this week unveiled a multi-year plan to fight prescription drug abuse in Tennessee. The state estimates that in the past year,...
Aetna, Humana, Cigna Accused of Bias Against AIDS Patients in Florida
May 30 2014 // Advocates for people with HIV and AIDS charged that insurers including Aetna Inc., Humana Inc. and Cigna Corp. have discriminated against Obamacare patients in Florida infected with the virus. The Tampa-based AIDS...
North Carolina Start-Up’s Software Tracks Fraud in Packaging, Documents
May 29 2014 // By snapping a picture with his mobile phone, Hersh Tapadia demonstrated how an app developed by the Durham-based anti-counterfeiting technology company CertiRx Corp. could find fraudulent changes on a prescription drug...
Insurers Balk at High Cost of Specialty Drug
May 21 2014 // The leading U.S. health insurance trade group on Tuesday hit out at the extremely high cost of new specialty medicines, accusing drugmakers of taking advantage of the insurance system by pricing products at unsustainable...
Ex-Players’ Injury Suit Alleges NFL ‘Culture of Drug Abuse’
May 21 2014 // Retired players including ex-Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon accused the National Football League of using painkillers to mask injuries in a “culture of drug misuse,” expanding litigation over the damage...
Florida AG Finds Way to Fund Drug Database to Fight ‘Pill Mills’
May 8 2014 // Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is keeping the state’s prescription drug database up and running after state legislators decided against funding it. The Florida Legislature did not set aside any money for the...
10 Challenges Ahead for Workers’ Compensation
May 5 2014 // Today’s challenges are also tomorrow’s opportunities depending on the viewpoint. Those same opportunities could also remain tomorrow’s challenges. This special report highlights 10 current workers’...
Arizona Senate Takes Side of Uber, Lyft Ridesharing Services
Apr 24 2014 // Calling Uber a cutting-edge concept, the Arizona Senate approved a bill that exempts it and other rideshare companies from the same regulations that traditional taxi and limo companies have. The amended bill exempts...
Mass. Health Insurer Cuts Narcotic Prescriptions to Combat Abuse
Apr 10 2014 // The largest health insurer in Massachusetts has cut prescriptions of narcotic painkillers by an estimated 6.6 million pills in 18 months as part of a campaign to curb abuse. The decline in prescribed opiates including...
Commissioner: Opioid Drug Prescriptions Declining in Texas Work Comp System
Apr 8 2014 // Texas Commissioner of Workers’ Compensation Rod Bordelon told the Texas House Committee on Public Health that the number and cost of opioid drug prescriptions in the Texas workers’ compensation system has...
Healthcare Reform Brings Expansion to Drug & Alcohol Treatment Industry
Apr 7 2014 // January 1 marked the beginning of an expansion of healthcare coverage for drug and alcohol addiction treatment under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This expansion is leading to a growth in the rehabilitation facilities...
Bill to Make Cancer Drugs More Affordable Passes Wisconsin Senate
Apr 2 2014 // Chemotherapy pills that cancer patients can take at home would be more affordable under a bill that the Wisconsin Senate passed on April 1 – the last planned meeting day of its two-year session. The oral chemotherapy...
