Not all teen prescription drug abuse prevention programs are created equal, as researchers from Duke University and Pennsylvania State University discovered during a recent study.
Health officials have long understood that if we’re serious about reducing tobacco use, we must target the young. That’s because the younger the person, the more sensitive they are to nicotine and the more likely they are to become addicted and to have trouble quitting. In fact, 96 percent of those who become cigarette smokers …
The huge drugstore chain CVS, having stunned the marketplace and the public with its February vow to stop selling tobacco products at its 7,700 stores by October, announced Wednesday that it was “smoke free” a month early.
A prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) is an official database of information on prescribers and recipients of controlled substances. The idea is that when doctors and pharmacists can see exactly who is obtaining prescription drugs, the public’s ability to abuse those drugs will be minimized. The database is also open to law enforcement. A recent …
Missouri Holds Out on Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs Read More »
Brett quit smoking four years ago, well after losing most of his teeth. By his mid-30s, gum disease from tobacco smoking had ravaged the bones and tissue supporting his teeth — 16 removed in one surgery. At 42, nearly toothless, Brett still smoked. He soberly looks at the viewer in a new “scared straight” television …
Smoking cigarettes is linked to one in five deaths in the U.S., including those from exposure to secondhand smoke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is nearly half a million deaths yearly due to nicotine addiction. For every smoking-related death, 30 more people suffer at least one or more chronic or …
Soaring child poisonings from the fluid used in electronic cigarettes — especially in summer months — has prompted warnings about the risks of liquid nicotine exposure. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced that reports of adverse e-cigarette exposure to U.S. poison control centers climbed from one in September 2010 to 1,351 in …
CDC Reports Explosion in E-Cigarette Child Poisoning Calls Read More »
One out of five smokers was able to quit tobacco cigarettes by inhaling on electronic cigarettes, which still deliver nicotine but in smaller doses, a new study out of the United Kingdom has found. Those trying to quit smoking cold turkey or with non-prescription nicotine patches or gum were 60 percent more likely to report succeeding …
Electronic Cigarettes Help Smokers Quit, Study Finds, But Critics Urge Caution Read More »
The National Football League has been sued by more than 600 retired players, who have charged that they were wrongfully doped with addictive painkillers to keep them on the field at the expense of their health. This marks the second time in a week that makers of opiate drugs have been pulled into lawsuits. On …
Ex-Players Say NFL Handed Out Painkillers ‘Like Candy’ Read More »
The district attorneys of two California counties have sued five giant pharmaceutical companies, charging that they fraudulently marketed highly addictive drugs meant for terminal cancer patients as safe for chronic pain relief. The resulting explosion in prescription painkillers, the plaintiffs allege, has contributed to the nation’s alarming spike in opiate overdose deaths.