Prescription Drug Abuse

PrescriPtion Drug Abuse: WhAt

The misuse and abuse of controlled substances, especially those containing opiates, by the general public and in patients suffering with chronic pain is a problem attracting nationwide attention. This fact is reinforced by multiple congressional committees with jurisdiction over the epidemic, numerous hearings conducted by various committees, and the focus the administration. The United States ...

Prescription drug abuse: problem, policies, and implications.

This article provides an overview on prescription drug abuse and highlights a number of related legislative bills introduced during the 112th Congress in response to this growing epidemic. Prescription drug abuse has emerged as the nation's fastest growing drug problem. Although prescription drugs have been used effectively and appropriately for decades, deaths from prescription pain medicine i...

Prescription drug abuse: insight into the epidemic.

The emergence of clinically efficacious prescription drugs to treat pain, anxiety, and learning disorders is accompanied by the potential for nonmedical use. Prescription drug abuse has become a modern-day epidemic in the United States and is now second only to marijuana use across all age groups. This article reviews the various data collection, analysis, and reporting systems that have been d...

Prescription drug abuse rising among Aboriginal youths.

Prescription compliance or illicit designer drug abuse?

A 62-year-old Caucasian woman underwent evaluation for possible liver transplantation. She had endstage cirrhosis secondary to hepatitis C and alcohol abuse. Among the tests ordered were urine screens for various drugs of abuse, including amphetamines, for which the patient’s urine sample was positive. Given the patient’s history of alcohol abuse and possible other drug abuse, her physicians qu...