Health News
- Kentucky Ranks No. 4 In Painkiller Prescriptions; Neighboring States Are First, Second And Third
Powerful painkillers are a contributing factor in the the rising rate of overdose deaths in the U.S., especially in Kentucky, where officials have recommended more measures be taken to monitor painkiller prescriptions. Now the government is pointing out...
- Improvements To Rx Monitoring Systems Worth The Expense, Study Finds; Using Systems Influence Doctors' Prescribing Decisions
A plan for an ideal prescription drug monitoring system was published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, with its authors concluding spending more money to improve systems is worth the expense. To improve databases, the paper's authors...
- Prescription Pill Problem In Kentucky, Elsewhere Under Microscope On Npr Program
The growing prescription-drug abuse problem in Kentucky and other states was under the microscope Thursday during National Public Radio's "On Point," hosted by Tom Ashbrook. The Courier-Journal's Laura Ungar, who wrote an extensive series on pain-medicine...
- 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,...
- 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...
Health News
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 for Disease Control and Prevention. "The problem is more from them than from drug pushers on street corners." One California study found 3 percent of doctors wrote 62 percent of painkiller prescriptions, reports Daniel J. DeNoon of WebMD Health News.
Prescription-drug abuse has tripled since 1999, with 1 in 20 U.S. adults admitting to taking the drugs for pleasure rather than need. According to the CDC, the drugs most abused are Vicodin (hydrocodone), OxyContin (oxycodone), Opana (oxymorphone) and methadone. In 2010, pharmacies sold enough of those drugs, and ones similar to them, "to give everyone in the U.S. a typical 5-milligram dose of hydrocodone every four hours for one month," DeNoon reports.
Abuse is more common in men than women; in rural than urban areas; in non-Hispanic whites than in other races or ethnicities; and in middle-age adults than younger or older adults.
The problem has grown to epidemic proportions in Kentucky, with more people dying from prescription drug overdoses than car accidents, The Courier-Journal reported in February. Much of the problem stems from Florida, which until September did not have a drug-monitoring system in place. Dealers from Kentucky would drive down to the Sunshine State and obtain prescriptions from several doctors at a time. They would then return to Kentucky to sell their haul. While a tracking system is now in place, there continues to be loopholes in Florida's law and the fear is pill mill operators will move to other states.
Frieden said states need to monitor who is prescribing the drugs; prevent doctor shopping; make prescriptions available for just three days of use at a time; and have doctors resort to narcotics only as a the last measure to control pain. "We are in an epidemic of prescription drug abuse," Frieden said. "This epidemic can be stopped."
In Kentucky, an effort has been launched to target "drug dealers in white coats" and involves a plan designed to root out doctors with suspicious prescription practices and pass legislation to better track prescriptions.
U.S. "drug czar" Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said the White House has a goal of cutting down on prescription drug abuse by 15 percent by 2015. Kerlikowske visited Kentucky and adjoining states in February to assess the problem. (Read more)
- Kentucky Ranks No. 4 In Painkiller Prescriptions; Neighboring States Are First, Second And Third
Powerful painkillers are a contributing factor in the the rising rate of overdose deaths in the U.S., especially in Kentucky, where officials have recommended more measures be taken to monitor painkiller prescriptions. Now the government is pointing out...
- Improvements To Rx Monitoring Systems Worth The Expense, Study Finds; Using Systems Influence Doctors' Prescribing Decisions
A plan for an ideal prescription drug monitoring system was published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, with its authors concluding spending more money to improve systems is worth the expense. To improve databases, the paper's authors...
- Prescription Pill Problem In Kentucky, Elsewhere Under Microscope On Npr Program
The growing prescription-drug abuse problem in Kentucky and other states was under the microscope Thursday during National Public Radio's "On Point," hosted by Tom Ashbrook. The Courier-Journal's Laura Ungar, who wrote an extensive series on pain-medicine...
- 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,...
- 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...