Health News
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.
- 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...
- New Florida Laws Helping Stem Flow Of Pills, But Loopholes Remain And Trade Is Shifting To Other States
Though pill mills continue to be a big problem in Florida, where lax laws have fueled Kentucky's prescription pill trade, there is evidence that the tides are slowly turning in the Sunshine State. "Registered pain clinics in Florida have dropped from...
- Despite New Laws, Florida Still Fuels 'pill Pipeline' To Kentucky
If you thought Florida's recent moves to stop the "pill pipeline" to Kentucky have worked, think again. "Cash-only clinics continue to operate throughout the Sunshine State, with doctors indiscriminately doling out prescriptions for such drugs as...
- 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,...
- Skyrocketing Prescription Drug Abuse Is Subject For Examination By Kentucky's Two Biggest Newspapers
The uphill battle against prescription drug abuse across the state was extensively explored in Kentucky's two largest newspapers this weekend. In their series titled "Prescription for Tragedy," which continues today, The Courier-Journal's...
Health News
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 abuse this year, was one of three journalists who spoke about the epidemic. Dealers visit various pain-management clinics, which have been labeled "pill mills," fill the prescriptions and then sell the drugs at a high profit.
Ungar, left, called the prescription drug trade "akin to the illegal drug trade, where many of our folks in Kentucky are getting drugs that originated in Florida." Indeed, 98 of the nation's top 100 prescribers of drugs Oxycontin and Xanax are in Florida, the journalists conveyed.
One caller to the show, identified as Michelle of Carter County, Kentucky, shared what it was like when her mother was a pain-meds addict. "We would wake up in middle night and have to put her to bed because she was like a zombie," she said. "It was like no one was there."To read more and listen to the show, click here.
- 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...
- New Florida Laws Helping Stem Flow Of Pills, But Loopholes Remain And Trade Is Shifting To Other States
Though pill mills continue to be a big problem in Florida, where lax laws have fueled Kentucky's prescription pill trade, there is evidence that the tides are slowly turning in the Sunshine State. "Registered pain clinics in Florida have dropped from...
- Despite New Laws, Florida Still Fuels 'pill Pipeline' To Kentucky
If you thought Florida's recent moves to stop the "pill pipeline" to Kentucky have worked, think again. "Cash-only clinics continue to operate throughout the Sunshine State, with doctors indiscriminately doling out prescriptions for such drugs as...
- 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,...
- Skyrocketing Prescription Drug Abuse Is Subject For Examination By Kentucky's Two Biggest Newspapers
The uphill battle against prescription drug abuse across the state was extensively explored in Kentucky's two largest newspapers this weekend. In their series titled "Prescription for Tragedy," which continues today, The Courier-Journal's...