Health News
The uphill battle against prescription drug abuse across the state was extensively explored in Kentucky's two largest newspapers this weekend.
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With a raid on a pain clinic in Paintsville making headlines yesterday morning, state legislators heard from community leaders and officials telling them to pass legislation to curb the proliferation of pill mills. Lois Windhorst, best known as a leader...
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Suspected "pill mills" that feed Kentucky's "epidemic of prescription-drug abuse" have proliferated in the last two years, and "not just in Eastern Kentucky, where the problem was once most prominent," the Lexington Herald-Leader reported yesterday....
- 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...
- 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...
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Health News
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 Laura Ungar and Emily Hagedorn examined the effects of drug addiction in Bell County, which has the highest number of drug-related deaths in the state. Yet, as prescription drug abuse continues to rise statewide, funding to fight addiction has been slashed and treatment can be difficult to get, Hagedorn and Ungar report. (C-J photo illustration)
The Lexington Herald-Leader looks at how some counties are fighting back by drawing up ordinances that ban "pill mills," pain management clinics that "churn out large amounts of prescriptions for pain and anti-anxiety pills," Bill Estep and Dori Hjalmarson report.
The C-J reports 978 Kentuckians died in 2009 from prescription drug overdoses, up from 403 in 2000. For more state- and nation-wide numbers, click here. Bell County is the hardest hit in the state, with about 54 prescription drug-related deaths per 100,000 people. The high death rate is attributed to several factors, including "few good jobs, little for young people to do and easy access to nearby states where prescriptions are easier to get," Ungar and Hagedorn report.
While the problem continues to grow, petty crimes, such as theft, have increased with it. Yet, the funds to fight the abuse have decreased in Bell County. That is the case statewide, with funding cut from the state Office of Drug Control Policy and Operation UNITE, which was formed to fight chronic drug abuse. Moreover, Kentucky's family and juvenile drug courts were eliminated last year to save money.
A few Eastern Kentucky counties are fighting back by passing ordinances that ban certain types of pain clinics from opening or continuing to operate, the Herald-Leader reports. Carter, Greenup, Knott and Morgan counties have already approved their bans. Residents of Johnson and Owsley counties are asking for more regulation.
To some degree, the bans are put in place to send a message to doctors who are considering opening up shop in these areas. Carter County did not have any pain clinics when its ban was passed, but one businesses later shied away from opening in the county after learning about the law.
After crackdowns on pill mills in Kentucky in the early 2000s, Kentuckians traveled to Florida, which had no prescription-tracking system, to obtain pills and later sell them. In one raid in South Florida, Estep and Hjalmarson report authorities found more than 1,000 files from patients who lived in Eastern Kentucky.
And pain management clinics still flourish within the state as well. One Johnson County pain management clinic (right) "was so busy Friday ? payday ? that sheriff's deputies parked outside to spot traffic violations," Estep and Hjalmarson report.
This year, state Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, has introduced Senate Bill 47, which would more strictly regulate the operation of pain clinics. (Read more)
To read more about The Courier Journal's series "A Prescription for Tragedy," view the following links:
? "Kentucky's Bell County devastated by prescription drug deaths"
? "Bell County cheerleader had good grades ? a big drug problem"
? "Drug problems are growing in Louisville but abuse remains below the state average"
? "Funds to fight a drug epidemic cut even as abuse of medicines kills record number of Kentuckians"
? "Treatment is difficult for many to get"
? "Aspiring artist Sarah Shay was getting her life together, and then ..."
- Lawmakers Hear Testimony About State's Pill Mill Problem, Discuss Whether To Put All Prescription-drug Issues Into One Bill
With a raid on a pain clinic in Paintsville making headlines yesterday morning, state legislators heard from community leaders and officials telling them to pass legislation to curb the proliferation of pill mills. Lois Windhorst, best known as a leader...
- 'pill Mills' Proliferating In Ky.; Legislators Plan Countermeasures
Suspected "pill mills" that feed Kentucky's "epidemic of prescription-drug abuse" have proliferated in the last two years, and "not just in Eastern Kentucky, where the problem was once most prominent," the Lexington Herald-Leader reported yesterday....
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...