Read more about the article Opioid Lawsuits Are Bankrupting Rite-Aid

Opioid Lawsuits Are Bankrupting Rite-Aid

While there have been many stories about rampant crime in major cities, the fact is that these same cities also have a lot of opioid addiction. In recent years, states, counties, and cities have been suing distributors of opioids like Oxycontin. While many companies, such as the drug maker Purdue Pharma, have settled, some distributors and pharmacies have had issues. Rite-Aid is one of these pharmacies that chose not to participate in a bulk settlement. Because of this, they face more than a thousand lawsuits for their sales of Oxycontin and other addictive pain pills.

Rite-Aid in Danger of Closing

Rite-Aid is one of the largest chains of pharmacies in the United States, but they now face billions of dollars in death and risk closure due to outstanding opioid lawsuits. Not settling, as other pharmacies have done, including Walgreens, …

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Read more about the article Chronic Pain May Make Opioid Use Disorder Worse

Chronic Pain May Make Opioid Use Disorder Worse

Researchers following the data for people with fibromyalgia and opioid use disorder found that people with chronic pain may have more challenges when staying sober.

Chronic Pain and Opioid Exposure

Many people first use opioids to treat pain. Physical pain can significantly contribute to the development of opioid use disorder. Opioids are commonly prescribed to manage chronic pain; over time, people may develop a tolerance to the medication. They may require higher doses to achieve the same pain relief. As a result, individuals may become physically dependent on opioids, which can lead to opioid use disorder.

Most people’s first exposure to opioids is through an illness or injury where a doctor prescribes drugs like Percocet or Oxycontin.

Chronic Illness and Opioid Misuse

Chronic pain can increase the risk of addiction, overdose, and other adverse effects.

There is also a chance …

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Read more about the article Pain Management Intervention Reduces Opioid Use

Pain Management Intervention Reduces Opioid Use

According to a study on a hospital intervention program for people with thyroid cancer operations, preoperative counseling and having multiple ways to control pain reduced the amount of opioids patients needed. Post-operative opioid prescriptions were dramatically reduced among many thyroid cancer patients discharged. Because of personalized medication management, fewer people took opioids home from the hospital.

Supporting Patients’ Pain Management Individual Needs

The study’s findings were retrospective and focused on thyroid cancer surgery. The study showed that hospitalized people needed very small amounts of postoperative opioid medication for pain management. The authors wrote that offering multiple types of pain management helped manage pain. “Adequate postoperative pain control was achieved using non-opioid interventions. Implementing an intervention to decrease the quantity of unnecessarily prescribed opioid medications during hospital discharge may help to reduce the risk of opioid addiction and overdose in patients …

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Read more about the article Prosecutors Says Insys Bribed 5 NYC Doctors to Prescribe Fentanyl

Prosecutors Says Insys Bribed 5 NYC Doctors to Prescribe Fentanyl

Five New York City doctors allegedly took at least $800,000 from Insys Therapeutics Inc., to prescribe the spray version of fentanyl, a highly addictive opioid that has been known to cause overdose deaths across the country. According to a 75-page indictment that the Manhattan federal court released on Friday, all the defendants pleaded not-guilty to the charges, which included conspiracy to describe the efforts to overprescribe the medication.

The doctors had been “working” for the company’s ‘Speakers Bureau’ for four years starting back in 2012. However, their positions were a way to hide the fact that the “speech” part of the job description was a farce.

According to the New York Times, Insys paid more than $100,000 annually to at least two of the doctors. The indictment also says that Insys funneled the illegal payments to the doctors through …

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Read more about the article “Enormous” Fentanyl Ring Uncovered in Utah

“Enormous” Fentanyl Ring Uncovered in Utah

Fentanyl, a dangerous narcotic that is 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine, has become a drug that is central the opiate epidemic in many hard-hit areas. For many people, fentanyl is a drug that’s unfamiliar, and many drug users e are unaware of its potency or the added potential for overdose. Fentanyl pills are nearly identical to Oxycontin in size and shape and often have been sold masquerading as oxy on the street. A recent fentanyl ring uncovered in Utah sheds light on how and where these pills are manufactured and how they are distributed.

Federal agents uncovered a fentanyl ring (allegedly) being run by a young man who is a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints, local news station KSL reported. Prosecutors are looking into the possibility that at least 28 deaths are tied to …

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Opioid Commission Holds First Meeting

On Friday June 16, 2017 the newly formed Opioid Commission held their first meeting in the White House. It was attended by some of the more influential players from within Donald Trumps’s circle. Most notably at the helm of the meeting was Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey who is the chairman of the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. 

Notable Attendees:

  • Tom Price, Secretary of Health and Human Services
  • David Shulkin, Secretary of Veteran Affairs
  • Kellyanne Conway, Trump Adviser 
  • Jared Kushner, Senior Trump Adviser 
  • Charlie Baker, Governor of Massachusetts
  • Roy Cooper, Governor of North Carolina
  • Patrick Kennedy, former congressman
  • Dr. Bertha Madras,  Harvard Medical Professional

Given the list of names and considering the seriousness of the problem United States is facing with the opioid crisis it appears that this administration is ramping up its efforts …

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Older Americans and Prescription Drug Abuse

New research is sounding the alarm about prescription painkiller abuse among older Americans. The research, which was presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP), reports that roughly 20% of Americans over age 65 take analgesic medication for chronic pain several times per week. Among that group, the rate of prescription drug abuse or addiction is 18%.

There are currently 38 million adults over age 65 represent in the U.S, representing 13% of the total population. One third of all prescriptions are written for this group. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA), 2.8 million seniors abuse prescription drugs. By 2020, seniors will represent 20% of the population and SAMHSA estimates that 4.4 million will abuse drugs.

Many experts believe that aging Baby Boomers are more likely than their parents to …

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Should Doctors Focus Less on Patient Satisfaction to Reduce Prescription Drug Abuse?

Far too many health care providers are more concerned with patient satisfaction than they are with protecting patients from the risk of prescription drug abuse and addiction. This attitude is enforced by current teaching in pain management, which is largely based on a concern for providing relief for patients with chronic pain.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that roughly 116 million Americans suffer from chronic pain. Healthcare providers have long struggled with the challenges involved with the long-term treatment of pain, including the need for escalating doses as patients become tolerant to medication and the risk of addiction.

Doctors and Hospitals Worry about Negative Patient Feedback

According to Sherry Green, CEO of the National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws (NAMSDL), education for prescribers needs to focus less on patient satisfaction and more on improvements in patient functioning. …

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California Lawmaker Seeks More Oversight of Prescription Drug Deaths

A California state Senator has been working diligently to introduce a bill requiring coroners to report prescription drug deaths to the Medical Board of California. Senator Curren D. Price Jr., who is also Chairman of the Medical Board of California, hopes the new bill will help to identify medical professionals whose prescribing methods may contribute to prescription drug addiction and overdose.

The proposed legislation is a response to  an LA Times investigation into coroner reports. The investigation revealed that numerous deaths caused by the overuse of prescription pain medication can be linked to a handful of physicians. The Times examined 3,733 prescription drug related deaths that took place between 2006 and 2011 in the counties of Orange, San Diego, Los Angeles and Ventura. It was revealed that 1,762 cases resulted from overdosing on medications that had been prescribed by doctors. …

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Maine Doctors Requesting Drug Tests before Writing Prescriptions

Doctors in the state of Maine have begun to ask patients to submit to random drug tests in exchange for prescriptions for controlled drugs. The tests help doctors determine if patients are taking their prescription drugs or selling them on the black market. Drug tests also allow doctors to determine if patients are taking other drugs. Patients who refuse drug tests could be refused prescriptions.
The Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine recommends that physicians enter into contract agreements that include random drug tests with patients who receive multiple new prescriptions or renewals for controlled drugs. According to Gordon Smith, vice president of the Maine Medical Association, a prescription drug contract between doctor and patient and random drug testing for patients will encourage more conversations about the potential for addiction.

Maine – Surprisingly Vulnerable to Opiate Addiction

Random drug …

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