OBJECTIVE Prescriptions for anxiety medications have increased substantially in recent years. Individuals with anxiety disorders are at risk of nonmedical use of these medications, but information about whether this risk is elevated among patients with a prescription for such medications is lacking. The authors compared risk of nonmedical use in individuals in a national sample with and without...

Prescription drug abuse has escalated to a crisis in the United States. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, young people abuse prescription drugs second only to marijuana, and one-third of people who start using illicit drugs begin with prescription drugs [1]. Moreover, prescription analgesics were associated with more than 16,000 deaths, with frequent contributions from ot...

BACKGROUND The only drug approved for pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) in Japan is pimozide. Several psychotropic drugs are also prescribed for offlabel use in Japan, but details regarding their prescription and use are largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to clarify the use of drug treatment in Japanese children with PDD. METHODS Data were extracted from claims data from the...

BACKGROUND Effective January 1, 2006 Medicare Part D became a new source of prescription drug coverage for people with HIV/AIDS in the United States. The implementation of Part D has affected access to antiretrovirals for people with HIV/AIDS. In North Carolina, access can be difficult because of the state's struggling safety net programs and the growing HIV-infected populations among Blacks an...

OBJECTIVE To examine the relationship between the self-report of craving prescription medication and subsequent opioid misuse among chronic pain patients prescribed opioids for pain. METHODS Six hundred thirteen patients taking opioid medication for chronic noncancer pain were asked how often they have felt a craving for their medication on a scale from 0=never to 4=very often. All participan...