The over prescribing of prescription opioids, such as Vicodin (hydrocodone) and OxyContin (oxycodone), has lead to a crisis of epidemic proportions. Doctors turn to prescription opioids as a first line of defense in the treatment of pain when, in many cases, they should prescribe opioid painkillers after other avenues have been exhausted. It would seem...Read More

New research suggests that changes in pharmaceutical industry practices has had a remarkable effect, reducing the number of prescriptions written and the number of opioid overdoses. Researchers from both Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Harvard Medical School (HMS), found that the introduction of abuse-deterrent OxyContin (oxycodone) and the removal of the drug Darvon (propoxyphene) from...Read More

English: Front view of the Vermont State House (taken Sept. 23, 2004) © 2004 Matthew Trump Category:Images of the Vermont State House (Photo credit: Wikipedia) The New Year brings State of the State addresses… The New Year is here and the news is flush with Governors delivering their yearly State of the State address. At...Read More

English: Logo of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. White on blue background with white rays but no white “burst”. No detailed wording. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Vital Signs published the first Tuesday of each month If you are a regular reader of...Read More

The prescription drug epidemic in this country continues to get worse, with more and more people being prescribed powerful narcotics that more often than not, end up in the wrong hands. Overdose deaths and armed robberies are on the rise according to a new analysis by the Associated Press. The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) new...Read More

Drug Abuse, from 1991 to 2009, related to prescriptions for opioid analgesics increased almost threefold, to more than 200 million, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Drug policy expert Keith Humphreys, PhD believes we need major policy changes to resolve the tension between providing adequate pain relief and dealing with the rise in...Read More

Sadly in America there are a number of children who are being neglected because every last resource goes to feeding the addiction of their parents. Most cases where children go hungry stems from substance abuse. At least 75 percent of all child abuse or neglect cases across the country involve substance abuse by parents or...Read More

In the war on addiction prescription drugs have proven to be the number one offender, affecting just about every community in America. While certain states are making a lot of headway on curbing the epidemic with the advent of prescription drug databases, the problem is still ever growing. Over prescribing and a lack of education...Read More