Health News
Kentucky officials continue to rail against Florida Gov. Rick Scott's proposal to cancel his state's prescription-drug monitoring program, a move they argue would keep the pipeline open for Kentucky dealers who head to the Sunshine State to get drugs.
- Florida-to-appalachia 'pill Pipeline' Appears To Be Shriveling
Attorneys general from Florida and Kentucky say the prescription pill pipeline between the two states is beginning to close, reports Bill Estep of the Lexington Herald-Leader. They credit new programs and rules in Florida, but Kentucky AG Jack Conway...
- Prescription Drug Abuse Is An Epidemic Nationwide And In Ky.
Prescription pain medicine overdoses now kill more people in the U.S. than heroin and cocaine combined, with 40 Americans dying every day from painkiller abuse. "This stems from a few irresponsible doctors," said Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers...
- Drug Czar Offers Plan To Cut Abuse Of Oxycodone, Related Drugs
The White House drug czar announced today he wants to cut misuse of oxycodone and other opioid drugs by 15 percent in the next five years, and revealed his strategy for how to make that happen. Gil Kerlikowske, the national drug policy director, wants...
- Kentucky Is 'ground Zero' In The War On Drugs, Rogers Says
A Kentucky congressman called "ground zero" in the war against drugs Wednesday as officials gathered in London for the regional meeting of the UNITE Coalition. In attendance was director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowke,...
- Drug Czar Coming To Kentucky To Look At Prescription Pill Abuse
The White House drug czar will visit Kentucky next week to investigate prescription pill abuse, a problem he called "heartbreaking." In a four-day tour, Gil Kerlikowske, President Obama's chief advisor on drug issues, will meet with law-enforcement...
Health News
Ky. officials ramp up criticism of plan to cancel Florida drug monitoring; U.S. drug czar says Fla. governor may lack facts
Kentucky officials continue to rail against Florida Gov. Rick Scott's proposal to cancel his state's prescription-drug monitoring program, a move they argue would keep the pipeline open for Kentucky dealers who head to the Sunshine State to get drugs."The callousness of this governor is absolutely incredible, with the number of people who are dying," said Frank Rapier, director of the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program.
Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear and Republican U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers have written Scott expressing their displeasure. Kentucky "may have to take legal action," Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo, who lacks legal authority to do so for the state, told The Courier-Journal's Emily Hagedorn. "Rick Scott is trying to legalize prescription drugs on the street," Mongiardo said. "The last thing we need is an open spigot to illegal drugs."
Because Florida is one of few states without a drug-monitoring program, traffickers can to go from doctor to doctor, getting prescriptions for drugs at each stop. More people died from prescription drug abuse in Kentucky than traffic accidents, The C-J reported in a recent investigation. Scott has said the monitoring program is an invasion of privacy, is costly and may not be effective.
The issue was discussed in London Wednesday while R. Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House Office National Drug Control Policy, made a stop there. Kerlikowske (right, C-J photo) is in Kentucky to investigate the prescription drug abuse in the state. "I am certainly giving (Scott) the benefit of the doubt that his decision comes from a lack of knowledge," he told Hagedorn. "So many people in his own state are dying, and others are dying, too." (Read more)
Yesterday, "Narcotics agents across South Florida descended on more than a dozen pain clinics," report Scott Hiaasen and David Ovalle of The Miami Herald. They call it "the most dramatic effort yet to curb the region?s booming business of illegal prescription narcotics." (Read more)
Yesterday, "Narcotics agents across South Florida descended on more than a dozen pain clinics," report Scott Hiaasen and David Ovalle of The Miami Herald. They call it "the most dramatic effort yet to curb the region?s booming business of illegal prescription narcotics." (Read more)
- Florida-to-appalachia 'pill Pipeline' Appears To Be Shriveling
Attorneys general from Florida and Kentucky say the prescription pill pipeline between the two states is beginning to close, reports Bill Estep of the Lexington Herald-Leader. They credit new programs and rules in Florida, but Kentucky AG Jack Conway...
- Prescription Drug Abuse Is An Epidemic Nationwide And In Ky.
Prescription pain medicine overdoses now kill more people in the U.S. than heroin and cocaine combined, with 40 Americans dying every day from painkiller abuse. "This stems from a few irresponsible doctors," said Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers...
- Drug Czar Offers Plan To Cut Abuse Of Oxycodone, Related Drugs
The White House drug czar announced today he wants to cut misuse of oxycodone and other opioid drugs by 15 percent in the next five years, and revealed his strategy for how to make that happen. Gil Kerlikowske, the national drug policy director, wants...
- Kentucky Is 'ground Zero' In The War On Drugs, Rogers Says
A Kentucky congressman called "ground zero" in the war against drugs Wednesday as officials gathered in London for the regional meeting of the UNITE Coalition. In attendance was director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowke,...
- Drug Czar Coming To Kentucky To Look At Prescription Pill Abuse
The White House drug czar will visit Kentucky next week to investigate prescription pill abuse, a problem he called "heartbreaking." In a four-day tour, Gil Kerlikowske, President Obama's chief advisor on drug issues, will meet with law-enforcement...