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from The Partnership at Drugfree.org.
The increase in prescription drug abuse in the United States is forcing the government to re-examine its emphasis on trying to stop shipments of illegal drugs into the country, The New York Times reports.
New York’s new prescription drug monitoring system, which will show pharmacists in real time whether patients have been “doctor shopping” for drugs, is a model for the rest of the country, state officials said Monday.
Adults over age 50 often ignore prescription drug labels that highlight key safety information, a new study suggests. The researchers say the labels should be redesigned and placed in a more prominent place to prevent dangerous medication errors.
States’ efforts to crack down on prescription drug abuse are being made more difficult by people who travel to states such as Florida and Georgia to obtain painkillers, the Associated Press reports.
Officials in Alameda County, California, approved a measure this week that would force pharmaceutical companies selling drugs in parts of the San Francisco Bay area to submit plans for safely disposing of unused medications, or incinerating them.
In one neonatal intensive care unit in Tennessee, almost half of the babies are going through withdrawal from prescription pills, ABC News reports.
A new study finds that OxyContin abuse has decreased now that the painkiller has been reformulated to make it more difficult to misuse. Many people who abused the drug have switched to heroin, the researchers report in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine.
The rise in popularity of the painkiller Opana illustrates the challenges facing law enforcement authorities, addiction specialists and pharmaceutical companies trying to tackle prescription drug abuse, USA Today reports.
Substance abuse is a growing problem among older Americans, and the nation’s health care system is not prepared to adequately address the need, according to a report by the Institute of Medicine.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine on Tuesday announced a plan to fight prescription drug thefts in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
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