Twenty years after Purdue Pharma introduced its pain medication, OxyContin, Maine lawmakers passed a bill that significantly stemmed the flow of pain pills into the state.
Two experts respond to evidence about the potential risk for a patient without a history of addiction to become addicted to opioid pain killers.
Dr. Andrew Kolodny, the chief medical officer for the Phoenix House discusses evidence-based addiction treatment and the risk of addiction among patients treated with opioids.
The American Pain Foundation – an industry-funded promoter of painkillers - closed its doors last week amid a federal inquiry. Here's how some top-notch journalists helped make it happen.
Bioethicist Leigh Turner, recently under fire from a stem cell company he criticized for ethical problems, talks about his research on medical tourism.
Administrators of a hot line that helps West Virginians find treatment for prescription drug abuse are worried the program will be forced to close. The Mountain State has the nation's highest rate of fatal drug overdoses, and most of those deaths involve prescription drugs. But officials with the West Virginia Prescription Drug Abuse Quitline say state leaders have not shown concern for their funding problems. The hot line launched in September 2008 with the help of $1 million from a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma, maker of the painkiller OxyContin. That money will run out next year, said Laura Lander, the program's clinical supervisor.
As drug-related deaths continue to rise, state funding for patient outreach is on the decline. This story is part of a series that examines prescription drug abuse in Kentucky.
