prescription drugs

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Painkiller Sales Exploding in New Parts of US

Pharmacies sold equivalent of 69 tons of pure oxycodone in 2010

(Newser) - Prescription painkiller addiction is a problem that's only getting uglier, reports the AP after analyzing a slew of DEA and pharmaceutical figures. The report focuses on sales of America's leading two prescription painkillers: oxycodone (the key ingredient in OxyContin, Percocet, and Percodan) and hydrocodone (Vicodin, Norco, and Lortab)....

Make Birth Control Over the Counter
 Make Birth Control 
 Over the Counter 
OPINION
Mar 9, 2012 1:37 PM CST

Make Birth Control Over the Counter

The pill is as safe as everything else in the drug store: Virginia Postrel

(Newser) - The controversy over oral contraceptives raises one obvious question: Why the heck aren't they available over the counter? "True, making the pill available over the counter could reduce the amount of outrage and invective available for entertaining radio audiences," Virginia Postrel of Bloomberg quips. "But the...

We Should Pay for Drugs Only If They Work

Biotech exec Samuel Waksal argues for a pay-for-results system

(Newser) - Medical costs, and especially drug costs, are scandalously high in the US, but just capping them isn't the answer, biotech exec Samuel Waksal writes in the New York Times . "Individuals and insurance companies should be willing to pay—and pay a lot—for drugs when they work,"...

Probe Launched Into Whitney's Prescriptions, Doctors

Medical records will be subpoenaed

(Newser) - The investigation into Whitney Houston's death is now turning to her doctors and pharmacies. Investigators are expected in the next few days to serve subpoenas on the singer's physicians and the pharmacies where Houston obtained multiple prescription drugs, reports the Los Angeles Times . Officials aim to determine whether...

A Growing Problem in US: Prescription Drug ODs

Xanax, Ativan, Valium found in Whitney Houston's room

(Newser) - It will likely be weeks before we know the official cause of Whitney Houston's death, but the fact that bottles of Xanax, Valium, and Ativan were found in her room is shining a light on the dangers of prescription drug abuse, and the real risk of accidental overdose. An...

TMZ: Houston May Have Drowned in Tub
 TMZ: Houston May 
 Have Drowned in Tub 
UPDATED
Feb 12, 2012 9:29 AM CST

TMZ: Houston May Have Drowned in Tub

Houston's daughter confronts police outside hotel room

(Newser) - Specifics are still sketchy in yesterday's sudden death of Whitney Houston . But here's what's beginning to trickle in:
  • Houston was found by a member of her entourage on the floor of her Beverly Hills hotel room around 3:30pm, reports the LA Times . Paramedics were called at
...

Con Artist Launched Google Sting for Feds

Set up fake websites illegally selling medications; firm allegedly helped

(Newser) - Last year, a federal sting against Google resulted in a record settlement—and at the heart of the operation was a convicted con man. Working with federal agents—and still wearing leg irons—David Whitaker set up a fake online pharmacy claiming to sell illegal drugs, and Google helped him...

As Lipitor Patent Expires, Pfizer Fights to Keep Users

Cholesterol drug's price should be coming down soon

(Newser) - The biggest-selling drug of all time—Lipitor—is now available for production in generic form as Pfizer's patent on the cholesterol-lowering pill expired today, reports AFP . It's such a huge money-maker for Pfizer, however, that the company is rolling out all kinds of discounts and incentives to keep...

No. 1 Cause of Overdose Deaths: Painkillers

Topping heroin, cocaine combined

(Newser) - Are prescription drugs more dangerous than their illegal counterparts? In 2008, prescription painkiller overdoses outnumbered deaths from heroin and cocaine combined, according to a new CDC report. Of the 36,450 US overdose deaths that year, 14,800 involved opioid painkillers like oxycodone, methadone, or hydrocodone. That’s a significant...

Your Meds May Be Giving You Nightmares

Bad dreams? Blame Ritalin, Cymbalta, Prozac, Lexapro, Wellbutrin...

(Newser) - It's a wonder anyone sleeps well at night. If you're taking ADHD drugs like Ritalin, antidepressants like Paxil and Prozac, or sleep pills like Ambien—and a host of antibiotics, blood-pressure medications, antihistamines, and statins in between—that prescription could be giving you nightmares. The Wall Street Journal...

37 Busted in FBI Raid on Boeing Plant

Prescription drugs allegedly being bought, sold illegally

(Newser) - A handful of workers at Boeing's Ridley Park plant were apparently doing more than building military aircraft: The FBI today arrested 36 current and former employees, along with a 37th individual, who were allegedly involved in illegally distributing prescription drugs. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the arrests follow a...

Google to Pay $500M Fine for Pharmacy Ads

Ads promoted illegal drug sales, prosecutors argued

(Newser) - Google has agreed to pay $500 million to settle a US government investigation into its distribution of online ads from Canadian pharmacies illegally selling prescription and non-prescription drugs to American consumers, a US attorney announced today. The settlement means the Internet search engine giant will not face criminal prosecution.

Infant Killed by Morphine in Mom's Breast Milk: Cops

Stephanie Greene faces multiple charges in death of her 6-week-old baby

(Newser) - A South Carolina mother has been charged with killing her 6-week-old baby with drug-tainted breast milk. Stephanie Greene, 37, allegedly had so much morphine in her system that her daughter overdosed, reports the New York Daily News . Greene began using Fentanyl and Hydrocodon in 2009, cops say, and had moved...

Drug Labels List an Average 70 Side Effects

Pharmaceutical companies trying to protect themselves from litigation

(Newser) - Take a gander at your typical prescription drug label, and you’ll see a lot more side effects than even the fastest talker could rattle off at the end of a commercial. The average label warns of a staggering 70 side effects, according to a new study that reviewed 5,...

Woman Stashes Two Knives in Surprising Places

Florida woman faces concealed weapons charge

(Newser) - A Florida woman is facing concealed weapons charges over two very well-concealed knives, reports the New York Daily News. Police searched Gloria Perez and another woman after responding to a report of a fight. They found hundreds of illegal prescription pills on the women, say investigators. Perez then became ill...

Ohio County Drowning in Waves of Oxy

Overdoses now leading cause of accidental death in Scioto County

(Newser) - Scioto County sits in the southern tip of Ohio, an unremarkable piece of Appalachia save for the deadly tidal wave of prescription drugs washing over its population. Overdoses have quadrupled over the past decade, reports the New York Times, and are now the leading cause of accidental death, ahead of...

Tough Choice for Bald Men: Hair or Sex?

Those taking finasteride likely to experience long-lasting effects

(Newser) - Tough news for the follicly challenged: Balding men taking finasteride, Merck's prescription drug that goes by the names Propecia and Proscar, may find they have trouble in bed—for a long while. Though the drug's label warns of "reversible" symptoms of sexual dysfunction, a small survey of 76 men...

1 Million Oxycodone Prescriptions Filled in New York City, Which Has 8 Million People
 8M New Yorkers, 
 1M Oxycodone Prescriptions 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Mar 20, 2011 6:23 AM CDT

8M New Yorkers, 1M Oxycodone Prescriptions

Staten Island leads the way

(Newser) - New York City's special narcotics prosecutor unveiled some eye-popping numbers about prescription drugs in the Big Apple, according to the Wall Street Journal :
  • One million prescriptions for the pain reliever oxycodone—the generic name for Oxycontin—were filled in 2010. That's enough for 1 in 8 residents of the five
...

FDA OKs 1st Lupus Drug in 50 Years

But Benlysta was only slightly effective in clinical trials

(Newser) - The FDA has approved the first new drug to treat lupus since 1955, reports the New York Times , giving sufferers sanctioned options beyond aspirin, a malaria drug, corticosteroids, and a handful of other drugs used off-label with minimal success. Benlysta will be marketed by GlaxoSmithKline at an estimated per-patient cost...

US Military Awash in Deadly Prescription Drugs

Powerful drug cocktails for stress, depression can be deadly

(Newser) - When Senior Airman Anthony Mena was found dead in his apartment, he had eight prescription medications in his blood, including three antidepressants, a sleeping pill, a sedative, and two powerful painkillers—but it was the combination of those drugs that killed him, not his own hand. The US military's medical...

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