Opioids and malpractice risks

Opioids and malpractice risks

Medscape’s Robert Lowes recently published an article detailing opioids’ prominent role in medication malpractice claims. Much of the press around the opioid crisis covers the deaths, hospitalizations, and substance use disorder problems. All of these can...

How often do you check your PDMP?

The AMA recently reported that PDMP checks rose to 136m last year, and that’s a step in the right direction. But, using recent annual data, we had more than 900m patient encounters and over 4 billion prescriptions were filled. Even if we assume all 136m checks...
Fentanyl and the dark web

Fentanyl and the dark web

As the nation’s opioid crisis worsens, the authorities are confronting a resurgent, unruly player in the illicit trade of the deadly drugs, one that threatens to be even more formidable than the cartels. The internet. In a growing number of arrests and overdoses, law...
Drug Deaths in America Are Rising Faster Than Ever

Drug Deaths in America Are Rising Faster Than Ever

Drug overdose deaths in 2016 most likely exceeded 59,000, the largest annual jump ever recorded in the United States, according to preliminary data compiled by The New York Times. The death count is the latest consequence of an escalating public health crisis: opioid...
More Ohio newborns suffer from mother’s addiction

More Ohio newborns suffer from mother’s addiction

The number of Ohio babies who come into the world sick and craving drugs continues to soar.  New state reports show that the rate of neonatal abstinence syndrome — the medical term for withdrawal symptoms suffered by newborns — jumped to 159 per 10,000 live births in...