The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and government, community, public health and law enforcement partners today announced a nationwide prescription drug “Take-Back” initiative that seeks to prevent increased pill abuse and theft.

CVS Pharmacy Inc., the retail pharmacy division of CVS Caremark Corporation that operates more than 7,000 retail pharmacies in 41 states and the District of Columbia, has agreed to pay the United States and 10 states $17.5 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations.

Online search engine Google Inc. has agreed to forfeit $500 million for allowing online Canadian pharmacies to place advertisements through its AdWords program targeting consumers in the United States, resulting in the unlawful importation of controlled and non-controlled prescription drugs into the United States.

Federal authorities, along with state and local law enforcement partners, conducted coordinated enforcement actions today against 22 individuals and one pharmacy allegedly involved in the illegal distribution of prescription drugs.

Walgreens, an Illinois-based corporation operating a national retail pharmacy chain, has paid the United States and participating states $7.9 million to resolve allegations that Walgreens violated the False Claims Act, the Justice Department announced today.

Healthpoint Ltd. and DFB Pharmaceuticals will pay up to $48 million to resolve allegations that Healthpoint caused false claims to be submitted to Medicare and Medicaid for an unapproved drug, Xenaderm, which was ineligible for reimbursement by those programs.

Lina Rodriguez, 34, was sentenced today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to serve 72 months in prison, followed by 24 months of supervised release, for operating and facilitating the operation of an Internet-pharmacy business that illegally shipped over $1.5 million of pharmaceuticals since July 2007 to U.S. and overseas purchasers.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Stuart F. Delery announced today that the Department of Justice, on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana against Sage Pharmaceuticals.

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc., a pharmaceutical company acquired by Pfizer, Inc. in 2009, has agreed to pay $490.9 million to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from the unlawful marketing of the prescription drug Rapamune for uses not approved as safe and effective by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Caremark LLC, a pharmacy benefit management company (PBM), will pay the government and five states a total of $4.25 million to settle allegations that it knowingly failed to reimburse Medicaid for prescription drug costs paid on behalf of Medicaid beneficiaries, who also were eligible for drug benefits under Caremark-administered private health plans.

Pharmaceutical company Endo Health Solutions Inc. and its subsidiary Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Endo) have agreed to pay $192.7 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from Endo’s marketing of the prescription drug Lidoderm for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration.

You know as well as anyone that the challenges we face are daunting. You’ve shown us that, as we seek to address the problem of substance abuse, it makes sense to focus on the most dangerous types of drugs. And right now, few substances are more lethal than prescription opioids and heroin.

Calling prescription drug addiction an “urgent and growing threat” to our nation’s public health, Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday announced a new Drug Enforcement Administration(DEA) regulation that would allow pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, and other authorized collectors to serve as authorized drop-off sites for unused prescription drugs.

High rates of opioid prescribing have contributed to the current U.S. opioid epidemic and the steady increase in overdose deaths across the country. Prescribers wrote an all-time high of 255 million opioid prescriptions in 2012, and though that rate has since declined.

By Karla L. Palmer —

Drug pricing in the U.S. is a persistently vexing policy problem. High drug prices stress consumers, payers, employers and “budgeteers”. At the same time the public demands new and better treatments, and the scientific advances that make such treatments possible. The pharmaceutical industry insists, with merit, that delivering new improved treatments, and in some cases…

In 2013, Patrick and Beth Collins were desperate. Thirteen‐year‐old Jennifer, the younger of their two children, faced a life‐threatening situation. In response, the Collins family took extreme measures—sending Jennifer thousands of miles away in the company of her mother. Beth and Jennifer became refugees from a capricious government whose laws threatened Jennifer’s health, the family’s…

The high cost of prescription drugs has become an increasingly pressing concern for policymakers, insurers, and families. New drugs—like those now available for hepatitis C— offer tremendous medical benefits, but at a cost that puts them out of reach for many patients. In an effort to address the affordability dilemma, the Louisiana Department of Health…

Peter Rickaby says he has "never been more optimistic about the possibility of change," but it will require some radical action.

Family doctors are acknowledging that there's only so much medicine can do, and sometimes a walk in the park is just what a person needs.

Robert J. Bitterman, CEO and President, discusses goals of Cutanea Life Sciences

Eyeglass World launches first retail collection of smart glass technologies in the U.S., including specially designed prescription lens options and hardware for Recon, Vuzix and Epson wearable devices.

Robert J. Bitterman, CEO and President, discusses goals of Cutanea Life Sciences

Dental painkillers put teens and young adults at increased risk for opioid addiction in the following year, a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine has found.

Around half of the opioids prescribed by dentists in the United States exceed the three-day supply recommended by federal dental pain-management guidelines.

Knowing the dose of opioids taken after cesarean delivery and before discharge can inform individualized prescriptions and reduce unnecessary, leftover

Michael T. Gaffney, 21 (left), of New Jersey, was charged with reckless manslaughter, following the death of a woman in the garage of the building (right) they'd attended a Halloween party at earlier.

Walmart is rolling out a new subscription service to rival Amazon Prime that could include unique perks its online competitor does not already offer, like discounts on prescriptions and fuel.

The left-right duo agree birth control pills should be available over the counter and Cruz proposed that they collaborate. Republicans last proposed it in 2015; Senate Democrats blocked it

Come spring, the first thing that patients see as they walk into the College Surgery in Cullompton, Devon, are the green shoots of a raised-bed vegetable garden beside a physic garden

A new report by DOHMH researcher Paul Salcuni has shown things are changing in New York: with a surge of 976 percent in PrEP prescriptions between 2014 and 2016.

Holly Strawbridge, 34, of Salcombe, Devon, gave a cocktail of drugs and booze to her son Tyler Peck at their family home, causing him to overdose, an inquest found. She is currently serving ten years.

Michael T. Gaffney, 21, from Maywood was charged with reckless manslaughter last month over the death of Francis Victoria Garcia, 19.He allegdly posted a picture of her body on Snapchat.

Does the World Bank advocate development, or is it simply a money-lender pushing its loan packages? For too long, the distinction has been blurred, allowing the Bank to make self-serving recommendations. Sudhirendar Sharma notes the latest instance of this as the Bank pushes into water sector reforms in India.

It is nobody’s case that there is no crisis. But when remedies are prescribed, the diagnosis and the investigation have to be beyond dispute. P N Venugopal critiques a report from the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.

Online Resource

American College of Sports Medicine, author, issuing body

Cambridge, Mass. : National Bureau of Economic Research, 2020

Interview with Aaron Kesselheim, author of Analysis of Proposed Medicare Part B to Part D Shift With Associated Changes in Total Spending and Patient Cost-Sharing for Prescription Drugs, and Francis J. Crosson, M.D., author of Managing the Cost of Medicare Part B Drugs: Implications for the Program and Beneficiaries

Interview with John S. Barbieri, MD, MBA, author of Trends in Oral Antibiotic Prescription in Dermatology, 2008 to 2016

Interview with Karen H. Seal, MD, MPH, author of Association of Mental Health Disorders With Prescription Opioids and High-Risk Opioid Use in US Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan

Interview with Elizabeth D. Kantor, PhD, MPH, author of Trends in Prescription Drug Use Among Adults in the United States From 1999-2012

Interview with Jeffrey A. Linder, MD, author of Delayed Antibiotic Prescriptions in Ambulatory Care: Reconsidering a Problematic Practice