December 12, 2018 Tough new opioid policies leave some cancer and post-surgery patients without painkillers New federal and state hard lines on painkiller prescriptions are affecting even cancer patients and people fresh out of major surgeries.
December 12, 2018 Health experts offer solutions for unintended consequences of opioid crackdown The most urgently needed first step to addressing the misunderstandings about Centers for Disease and Prevention opioid prescribing guidelines, many clinicians and health experts say, is for the agency to clarify – in a high-profile way-- what the guidelines were meant, and not meant, to do.
December 11, 2018 Doctors caught between struggling opioid patients and crackdown on prescriptions Doctors are opting to stop prescribing legal opioids – even to people who are left bedridden without them -- as insurers, pharmacies, state medical boards and state and federal law enforcement authorities warn them about overstepping federal opioid prescribing guidelines (issued in 2016 by the Centers for Disease Control) and the regulatory or third-party limits that followed on the number of pills and daily dosage they can give patients. Some have stopped prescribing opioids after being faced with losing their medical license or getting arrested.
December 10, 2018 James Bond has a 'severe' drinking problem, researchers argue He’s blowing well over a 0.07.
December 10, 2018 As doctors taper or end opioid prescriptions, many patients driven to despair, suicide Doctors and medical establishments are sharply reducing doses of – or altogether no long prescribing -- pain medications, leaving many among the estimated 20 million Americans who suffer from daily debilitating chronic pain to consider ending their lives, and many others to kill themselves.
November 29, 2018 Overdoses, suicides push down US life expectancy Suicides and drug overdoses pushed up U.S. deaths last year, and drove a continuing decline in how long Americans are expected to live.
November 25, 2018 Man killed woman hours after his release from prison, authorities say A man who police suspect of killing a woman hours after he was released from an Arizona prison was arrested Friday at a hotel, authorities said Saturday.
November 23, 2018 Aunt’s heartbroken warning after teen’s accidental overdose goes viral The heartbroken aunt of an Arizona teen who police said died of an accidental overdose after he and his friend ingested pills laced with fentanyl is speaking out about the dangers of “experimenting” with drugs.
November 16, 2018 Should US doctors screen for alcohol abuse? Many Americans have a problem regulating how much alcohol they drink.
November 16, 2018 Dutch teen dies after inhaling deodorant spray to get high A Dutch teen’s death is serving as a brutal reminder of the dangers of huffing household products in search of a high.