Health News
- National Magazine Looks At Drug Companies' Efforts To Stop Anti-methamphetamine Bills, Especially In Kentucky
In a strong piece of investigative reporting for Mother Jones magazine, largely about Kentucky, freelancer Jonah Engle delves into the history of how making methamphetamine became a simple task via over-the-counter cold medications, and how drug makers...
- 'meds For Meth' Bill Is About To Become Law Despite Heavy Lobbying Campaign By Pharmaceutical Companies
The bill to limit purchases of a popular cold medicine used to make methamphetamine passed the General Assembly today and Gov. Steve Beshear said he would sign it. The Senate voted 29-8 to approve changes the House made in Senate Bill 3, sponsored by...
- "stop Meth, Not Meds," Ad Sponsored By Drug Industry Advises
With some legislators saying a law is needed to make the decongestant pseudoephedrine available only by prescription, the Kentucky Healthcare Products Association has launched an advertising campaign to fight the effort. The radio commercials urge "public...
- Law Enforcement And Allies Getting Ducks In Row In 2nd Bid To Pass Bill To Require A Prescription To Buy Pseudoephedrine
By Tara Kaprowy Kentucky Health News With police finding 20 percent more meth labs in Kentucky than a year ago, they and others are again encouraging state legislators to make pseudoephedrine less available by requiring a prescription for it....
- As Meds-for-meth Bill Languishes, Some Seek Compromise, But Bill's Sponsor Says Proposals Would Render It Ineffective
By Al Cross and Tara Kaprowy Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues As the bill to require prescriptions for three widely used decongestants remains short of votes to pass the Senate, there is talk of a compromise measure to thwart the use...
Health News
Lobbying on bills to require prescriptions for meds like pseudoephedrine intensifies in Kentucky and West Virginia
The lobbying battle over meds and meth is ramping up in Kentucky and West Virginia, with business interests weighing in against it in Kentucky.
The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce issued a press release this afternoon saying legislation to require prescriptions for decongestants like pseudoephedrine "could do more harm than good." It quoted Chamber official Bryan Sunderland as saying, "It would negatively impact worker productivity and result in higher health care costs ? to employees, private employers and state government.?
Former Lt. Gov. Steve Pence sides with the Chamber of Commerce, telling The Associated Press it would move "a law enforcement issue into the medical profession, where it can least be handled."
This morning, a spokesman for the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, funded mainly by drug manufacturers, spoke at length from 9 to 10 a.m. on WVLK-AM in Lexington, arguing that the proposed law would impose unncessary costs and inconvenience on people who now buy the drugs over the counter.
There was no counter-argument on WVLK's Jack Pattie Show, though the Kentucky Medical Association has endorsed the idea, but yesterday a national substance-abuse expert told West Virginia legislators that a prescription law in that state could drastically reduce the incidence of methamphetamine labs.
And, if Kentucky and West Virginia would both pass such laws, "It will wipe out meth labs throughout this region," Stanford University psychiatry professor Keith Humphreys told Mountain State lawmakers, The Charleston Gazette's Alison Knezevich reports.
Some West Virginia legislators plan to introduce pseudoephedrine legislation soon, Knezevich reports. On Jan. 4, Kentucky state Sen. Tom Jensen, R-London, filed a bill that would require a prescription for ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and phenylpropanolamine, all now sold over the counter.
Oregon and Mississippi are the only states that require a prescription to get pseudoephedrine. Meth-lab incidence has fallen dramatically in those states since they implemented the laws, U.S. Rep. Harold "Hal" Rogers of Somerset, whose district covers most of Eastern Kentucky, noted in a recent article for newspapers.
Humphries told the West Virginia lawmakers that an average meth-lab bust costs taxpayers about $300,000, including cost of arrest, prosecution, incarceration, cleanup and foster care for children in the home. (Read more)
The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce issued a press release this afternoon saying legislation to require prescriptions for decongestants like pseudoephedrine "could do more harm than good." It quoted Chamber official Bryan Sunderland as saying, "It would negatively impact worker productivity and result in higher health care costs ? to employees, private employers and state government.?
Former Lt. Gov. Steve Pence sides with the Chamber of Commerce, telling The Associated Press it would move "a law enforcement issue into the medical profession, where it can least be handled."
This morning, a spokesman for the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, funded mainly by drug manufacturers, spoke at length from 9 to 10 a.m. on WVLK-AM in Lexington, arguing that the proposed law would impose unncessary costs and inconvenience on people who now buy the drugs over the counter.
There was no counter-argument on WVLK's Jack Pattie Show, though the Kentucky Medical Association has endorsed the idea, but yesterday a national substance-abuse expert told West Virginia legislators that a prescription law in that state could drastically reduce the incidence of methamphetamine labs.
And, if Kentucky and West Virginia would both pass such laws, "It will wipe out meth labs throughout this region," Stanford University psychiatry professor Keith Humphreys told Mountain State lawmakers, The Charleston Gazette's Alison Knezevich reports.
Some West Virginia legislators plan to introduce pseudoephedrine legislation soon, Knezevich reports. On Jan. 4, Kentucky state Sen. Tom Jensen, R-London, filed a bill that would require a prescription for ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and phenylpropanolamine, all now sold over the counter.
Oregon and Mississippi are the only states that require a prescription to get pseudoephedrine. Meth-lab incidence has fallen dramatically in those states since they implemented the laws, U.S. Rep. Harold "Hal" Rogers of Somerset, whose district covers most of Eastern Kentucky, noted in a recent article for newspapers.
Humphries told the West Virginia lawmakers that an average meth-lab bust costs taxpayers about $300,000, including cost of arrest, prosecution, incarceration, cleanup and foster care for children in the home. (Read more)
- National Magazine Looks At Drug Companies' Efforts To Stop Anti-methamphetamine Bills, Especially In Kentucky
In a strong piece of investigative reporting for Mother Jones magazine, largely about Kentucky, freelancer Jonah Engle delves into the history of how making methamphetamine became a simple task via over-the-counter cold medications, and how drug makers...
- 'meds For Meth' Bill Is About To Become Law Despite Heavy Lobbying Campaign By Pharmaceutical Companies
The bill to limit purchases of a popular cold medicine used to make methamphetamine passed the General Assembly today and Gov. Steve Beshear said he would sign it. The Senate voted 29-8 to approve changes the House made in Senate Bill 3, sponsored by...
- "stop Meth, Not Meds," Ad Sponsored By Drug Industry Advises
With some legislators saying a law is needed to make the decongestant pseudoephedrine available only by prescription, the Kentucky Healthcare Products Association has launched an advertising campaign to fight the effort. The radio commercials urge "public...
- Law Enforcement And Allies Getting Ducks In Row In 2nd Bid To Pass Bill To Require A Prescription To Buy Pseudoephedrine
By Tara Kaprowy Kentucky Health News With police finding 20 percent more meth labs in Kentucky than a year ago, they and others are again encouraging state legislators to make pseudoephedrine less available by requiring a prescription for it....
- As Meds-for-meth Bill Languishes, Some Seek Compromise, But Bill's Sponsor Says Proposals Would Render It Ineffective
By Al Cross and Tara Kaprowy Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues As the bill to require prescriptions for three widely used decongestants remains short of votes to pass the Senate, there is talk of a compromise measure to thwart the use...