CDC Opioid Guidelines Could Aid in Workers’ Comp Claims Mitigation
Recently published U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines effectively address the epidemic of prescription opioids in the initial treatment of chronic pain. However, workers’...
View ArticleFast-Acting Opioid Painkillers to Carry Strong New U.S. Warnings
Short-acting opioid painkillers will carry strong new warnings under U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements announced on Tuesday that will bring information about addiction and abuse in line...
View ArticleNearly All Doctors Prescribe Opioids for Longer Than Recommended
Most doctors – 99 percent – are prescribing highly addictive opioid medicines for longer than the three-day period recommended, according to a national survey. Twenty-three percent prescribe at least a...
View ArticleEffects of Global Warming Making US Sick
Man-made global warming is making America sicker, and it’s only going to get worse, according to a new federal government report. The 332-page report issued Monday by the Obama administration said...
View ArticlePro-Painkiller Echo Chamber Shaped Policy Amid Drug Epidemic
For more than a decade, members of a little-known group called the Pain Care Forum have blanketed Washington with messages touting prescription painkillers‘ vital role in the lives of millions of...
View ArticleMassive Youth Athlete Concussion Study Launched in Texas
This week, Texas will launch what state officials say is the nation’s largest effort to track brain injuries among young athletes. The University Interscholastic League, Texas’ governing body for...
View ArticleEx-Pharmacy Exec Convicted in Deadly Meningitis Outbreak
The former head of a Massachusetts pharmacy was convicted Wednesday of racketeering and other charges over a meningitis outbreak that killed 64 people across the country and was traced to...
View ArticleThe Art and Science of Getting Off Opioids
Every day, 91 Americans die from opioid overdoses according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Overdoses from prescription opioids started to increase in the mid-90s, and since...
View ArticleUnder New Law Maine Sees Fewer Opioid Prescriptions
A report released this month shows doctors in Maine are writing fewer opioid painkiller prescriptions in a state that rolled out one of the nation’s toughest prescription monitoring laws. A Maine...
View ArticleCDC Issues Warning Over Romaine Lettuce E. coli Fears
U.S. health officials on Friday told consumers to throw away any store-bought romaine lettuce they have in their kitchens and warned restaurants not to serve it amid an E. coli outbreak that has...
View ArticleStudy: Foodborne Illness Outbreak Could Cost a Restaurant Millions
A single foodborne outbreak could cost a restaurant millions of dollars in lost revenue, fines, lawsuits, legal fees, insurance premium increases, inspection costs and staff retraining, a new study...
View ArticleTexas Surf Resort Closed for ‘Brain-Eating Amoeba’ Testing
A landlocked surf resort in Central Texas closed on Friday after a man who visited died from what is commonly known to as a “brain-eating amoeba.” The Waco Tribune-Herald reports Centers for Disease...
View ArticleU.S. Overdose Deaths Starting to Level Off
The number of U.S. drug overdose deaths has begun to level off after years of relentless increases driven by the opioid epidemic, health secretary Alex Azar said Tuesday, cautioning it’s too soon to...
View ArticleFood Warnings May Impact Thanksgiving Table
First, it was the turkey. Now, it’s the salad. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told American consumers Tuesday to avoid romaine lettuce because it might be contaminated with Shiga...
View ArticleDoctors Ask CDC to Clarify Guidelines so Patients aren’t Abruptly Cut Off...
Some physicians are pushing back against “widespread misapplication” of the 2016 federal opioid prescribing guidelines, while a new report from Harvard Medical School researchers gives some credence to...
View Article