More than 70 percent of U.S. employers are feeling the direct impact of prescription drug misuse in their workplaces, according to a recent survey by the National Safety Council. The survey also found that although 71 percent of employers agree …
Georgia lawmakers have reached a compromise on a bill that would require doctors to log into a pill-tracking database before prescribing painkillers and other high-risk drugs. The goal is to curtail the overprescribing of opioids. But critics say loopholes written …
At Dr. Fathalla Mashali’s pain management clinics, the waiting rooms were often so packed with patients that people sat on the floor, leaned against walls and spilled into the hallways. That’s because, federal prosecutors say, Mashali was prescribing oxycodone and …
A study of more than 100,000 surgical cases at University of Virginia Health System found patients’ pain scores improved even as doctors prescribed fewer opioids. UVA anesthesiologists reviewed 101,484 surgeries between March 2011 and November 2015 where patients received general …
Pennsylvania’s avalanche of opioids that rolled from factories through pharmacies to medicine cabinets, and then tumbled into the streets with tragic results, may finally be slowing thanks to pressure on the prescribing practices of its doctors. This year, the long-lagging …
A new survey shows an 8.7 percent reduction in worker’s compensation payers’ drug spend, according to CompPharma’s 13th Annual Survey of Prescription Drug Management in Workers’ Compensation. The survey analyzed the 2015 pharmacy cost data of 30 workers’ compensation insurance …
California doctors will be required to check a database of prescription narcotics before writing scripts for addictive drugs under legislation Gov. Jerry Brown signed Tuesday that aims to address the scourge of opioid abuse. The measure attempts to crack down …
A recent analysis by researchers at the Texas Department of Insurance shows that the Texas pharmacy closed formulary is lowering costs and reducing the use of opioids. “Other states are interested in the success we’re having in Texas,” said Workers’ …
Ken Manning’s head is held up by two metal rods, four plates, and 17 screws in his neck. Since falling off a frame at a carpentry job in the early 2000s, he has had four surgeries, leaving his tanned neck …
Accidental overdoses aren’t the only deadly risk from using powerful prescription painkillers – the drugs may also contribute to heart-related deaths and other fatalities, new research suggests. Among more than 45,000 patients in the study, those using opioid painkillers had …