Prescription Drug Abuse

Federal regulators said Friday that they would continue to allow sales of generic Opana, a narcotic painkiller similar to OxyContin, even though the pills are prone to abuse. Like OxyContin, Opana is an extended-release narcotic designed to offer pain relief over several hours. When extended-release pills can be crushed, they are popular among addicts who snort the powder or liquefy and inject it, releasing the full dose at once. In response to growing criticism of its widely abused OxyContin, Purdue Pharma introduced a tamper-resistant formulation in 2010.

Federal regulators said Friday that they would continue to allow sales of generic Opana, a narcotic painkiller similar to OxyContin, even though the pills are prone to abuse. Like OxyContin, Opana is an extended-release narcotic designed to offer pain relief over several hours. When extended-release pills can be crushed, they are popular among addicts who snort the powder or liquefy and inject it, releasing the full dose at once. In response to growing criticism of its widely abused OxyContin, Purdue Pharma introduced a tamper-resistant formulation in 2010.

Despite efforts by law enforcement and public health officials to curb prescription drug abuse, drug-related deaths in the United States have continued to rise, the latest data show. Figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that drug fatalities increased 3% in 2010, the most recent year for which complete data are available. Preliminary data for 2011 indicate the trend has continued. The figures reflect all drug deaths, but the increase was propelled largely by prescription painkillers such as OxyContin and Vicodin, according to just-released analyses by CDC researchers.

Fearing lawmakers may fail to pass a package of medical reform bills, a coalition of consumer groups and trial lawyers is mounting a campaign to put before voters an even more ambitious slate of initiatives aimed at curbing prescription drug abuse and holding doctors more accountable for misconduct. About two dozen state and national advocacy groups - including the Consumer Attorneys of California, California Nurses Assn., the Center for Public Interest Law, and Public Citizen - have been organizing privately since December and plan to unveil the campaign at the state Capitol on Thursday.

It's not enough that medical insurance companies want to dictate how much and what kind of treatment our illnesses deserve. Now legislators and law enforcement agencies are butting in, trying to curtail the use of high-powered painkillers because too many people are dying from abuse of prescription drugs. A physicians group is asking the Food and Drug Administration for stricter guidelines on how the drugs are used, an FDA advisory panel has recommended limiting patients to fewer pills and making prescriptions harder to refill, and Congress is considering a bill that would bump hydrocodone-based pills - Vicodin, Norco and Lortab - into the same controlled-substance class as opium.

Federal authorities Friday raided the office of a doctor suspected of prescribing narcotic painkillers and other widely abused medications to patients who had no legitimate need for them. Undercover agents posed as patients at John Dimowo's offices in Wilmington and Anaheim and were able to get prescriptions for addictive drugs without the doctor examining them, the affidavit states. Dimowo, a pain doctor featured last year in a Times investigation into prescription overdose deaths, is a prolific prescriber of painkillers, such as Vicodin , writing an average of at least 37 prescriptions a day, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Prescription drug abuse is a crisis in this country, federal government officials said Tuesday, and it’s time to do something about it.  Specifically, they want to cut opioid abuse by targeting the people who prescribe the drugs and the users who obtain them. The report “ Epidemic: Responding to America’s Prescription Drug Abuse Crisis ,” recommends a four-part strategy to reduce painkiller overdoses. Essentially:  -- Increase education, particularly among parents and children, about prescription drug abuse.

"Misuse of Pain Drug Linked to Hearing Loss" (Sept. 10) brings to light an important aspect of drug abuse: the potential for substances to cause varied and sometimes nonintuitive effects. However, I must take exception to the implication that physicians are responsible for the epidemic of prescription drug abuse in this country. Our efforts to combat prescription drug abuse are hampered by our fragmented, litigious society. Though most physicians leave the decision to prescribe narcotic painkillers to a patient's primary care doctor, many drug abusers have multiple physicians whom they see as their "primary doctor" and from whom they receive medications filled at several different pharmacies.

Fearing lawmakers may fail to pass a package of medical reform bills, a coalition of consumer groups and trial lawyers is mounting a campaign to put before voters an even more ambitious slate of initiatives aimed at curbing prescription drug abuse and holding doctors more accountable for misconduct. About two dozen state and national advocacy groups - including the Consumer Attorneys of California, California Nurses Assn., the Center for Public Interest Law, and Public Citizen - have been organizing privately since December and plan to unveil the campaign at the state Capitol on Thursday.

A broad package of bills aimed at reducing prescription drug abuse and overdose deaths won approval from a key state Senate committee Monday. The bills, including a measure that would require coroners to report prescription-involved deaths to the Medical Board of California, followed a series of Times articles linking doctors to patient overdose deaths. In urging approval for his coroner-reporting bill, Sen. Curren Price (D-Los Angeles) cited the case of a doctor identified by The Times as having prescribed drugs to 16 patients who died of overdoses or related causes.

The Medical Board of California on Friday embraced a host of reforms aimed at combating prescription drug abuse and reducing overdose deaths but balked at a proposal to strip it of its authority to investigate physician misconduct. The board, meeting in Los Angeles, voted to support proposed legislation that would upgrade the state's prescription drug monitoring system, require coroners to report prescription drug overdose deaths to the board, and give the panel new power to halt a doctor's prescribing in some cases.

A broad package of bills aimed at reducing prescription drug abuse and overdose deaths won approval from a key state Senate committee Monday. The bills, including a measure that would require coroners to report prescription-involved deaths to the Medical Board of California, followed a series of Times articles linking doctors to patient overdose deaths. In urging approval for his coroner-reporting bill, Sen. Curren Price (D-Los Angeles) cited the case of a doctor identified by The Times as having prescribed drugs to 16 patients who died of overdoses or related causes.

It's not enough that medical insurance companies want to dictate how much and what kind of treatment our illnesses deserve. Now legislators and law enforcement agencies are butting in, trying to curtail the use of high-powered painkillers because too many people are dying from abuse of prescription drugs. A physicians group is asking the Food and Drug Administration for stricter guidelines on how the drugs are used, an FDA advisory panel has recommended limiting patients to fewer pills and making prescriptions harder to refill, and Congress is considering a bill that would bump hydrocodone-based pills - Vicodin, Norco and Lortab - into the same controlled-substance class as opium.

Despite efforts by law enforcement and public health officials to curb prescription drug abuse, drug-related deaths in the United States have continued to rise, the latest data show. Figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that drug fatalities increased 3% in 2010, the most recent year for which complete data are available. Preliminary data for 2011 indicate the trend has continued. The figures reflect all drug deaths, but the increase was propelled largely by prescription painkillers such as OxyContin and Vicodin, according to just-released analyses by CDC researchers.

Despite efforts by law enforcement and public health officials to curb prescription drug abuse, drug-related deaths in the United States have continued to rise, the latest data show. Figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that drug fatalities increased 3% in 2010, the most recent year for which complete data are available. Preliminary data for 2011 indicate the trend has continued. The figures reflect all drug deaths, but the increase was propelled largely by prescription painkillers such as OxyContin and Vicodin, according to just-released analyses by CDC researchers.

SAN FRANCISCO -- When the U.S. Supreme Court conducts a hearing Tuesday on Proposition 8, the lesbian cousin of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. will be in attendance. Roberts is a conservative appointed by President George W. Bush in 2005. Jean Podrasky, 48, who is more liberal and the first cousin of the chief justice, said she rooted for his nomination to be approved by the U.S. Senate . "He is family," she said. FULL COVERAGE: Same-sex marriage Podrasky lives in San Francisco and said she usually sees Roberts only on family occasions.

The Medical Board of California on Friday embraced a host of reforms aimed at combating prescription drug abuse and reducing overdose deaths but balked at a proposal to strip it of its authority to investigate physician misconduct. The board, meeting in Los Angeles, voted to support proposed legislation that would upgrade the state's prescription drug monitoring system, require coroners to report prescription drug overdose deaths to the board, and give the panel new power to halt a doctor's prescribing in some cases.

It's not quite Carmageddon, but the closure of the northbound 405 Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass for four hours may cause a few headaches for drivers early Sunday morning. Coupled with the closure of Coldwater Canyon Avenue for a month, Mondays through Saturdays, many drivers crossing from the Westside to the San Fernando Valley will be mapping out alternate routes. The northbound 405 will close for about four miles between Getty Center Drive and the 101 Freeway from 1 a.m. until about 6 a.m. Sunday.

Commuters were braced Monday for the first day of what could be a month-long headache as construction crews prepared to shut down Coldwater Canyon Avenue. Starting at 8:30 a.m. Monday, the road over the Santa Monica Mountains will be closed daily as the Department of Water and Power begins the replacement of a 99-year-old water pipe under the 2.1-mile stretch. The pipe under Coldwater Canyon ruptured four years ago and spilled 4 million gallons into the community, costing $7 million in damage.

Police were asking for the public's help Monday in finding the person who killed a 62-year-old man found dead in his apartment. An autopsy performed last week showed that Cornelius Rich, also known as Andre Dupree, died from blunt force trauma in his East Hollywood apartment. Police were called last Tuesday to check on Rich in the 500 block of Kingsley Drive and discovered his body. There was no clear motive for the slaying, police said. Anyone with information is asked to call Los Angeles Police Department West Bureau homicide detectives at (213)