Industry News

• October 31, 2011
  Panel advances bill aimed at stemming tide of prescription drug abuse (Boston Herald)
  

  From the Boston Herald: For the second time in as many years, lawmakers are targeting prescription drug abuse, this time with a comprehensive bill that would require doctors to participate in a prescription monitoring program and convene state health officials and physicians to review opioid prescribing practices.

  
  

  Tagged with: Legislation, prescription drug abuse, prescription drug monitoring database

  
  
• October 25, 2011
  States target prescriptions by ‘pill mills’ (USA Today)
  

  From USA Today: States are trying to outsmart the criminals by tracking prescriptions through statewide databases and by toughening their laws to make it more difficult for unscrupulous clinics to dispense large numbers of prescription pain pills. And in the latest move against drug tourists, states are linking their databases to try to stop dealers from roaming state to state.

  
  

  Tagged with: pain medication, pill mills, prescription drug monitoring database

  
  
• October 11, 2011
  York Daily Record: Admitted drug dealer sues doctor who prescribed him painkillers, seeks $43 million in damages
  

  From the York Daily Record: A York man who pleaded guilty to illegally selling prescription drugs is suing the doctor who prescribed the painkillers to him for medical malpractice and medical negligence.

  
  
  
  
• October 3, 2011
  Tulsa World: Experts: State’s prescription drug abuse problem lacks simple solution
  

  From Tulsa World: There’s no simple solution to Oklahoma’s extensive prescription drug abuse problem, state lawmakers were told Wednesday.

  
  

  Tagged with: Oklahoma, opioid abuse, prescription drug monitoring database, urine drug monitoring

  
  
• September 14, 2011
  For seniors, addiction often begins with prescription drugs (Miami Herald)
  

  From the Miami Herald: Approximately 13 percent of the U.S. population is 65 years old or older. Yet they constitute a third of the population using prescription drugs, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.