Prescription Drugs

IT'S BEEN four decades since the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, but aging baby boomers haven't stopped turning on. The federal government's National Survey on Drug Use and Health, released earlier this month, finds that as boomers move into their 50s in large numbers, drug use among older adults in the United States has hit its highest point ever. In the government's latest report -- reflecting drug use in 2007 -- 1 in 20 Americans ages 50 to 59 told researchers they had taken illicit drugs in the last month.

The Generic Pharmaceutical Assn. says a proposed federal regulation that would allow makers of generic drugs to inform people about all known health risks would create "dangerous confusion" and have "harmful consequences for patients. " And why would that be? For the answer, the industry group pointed me toward a recent report from Matrix Global Advisors, an independent consulting firm. The report says the rule change would needlessly complicate the market and add $4 billion a year to already bloated healthcare costs.

Prescriptions for painkillers -- left over from surgeries, orthopedic injuries or dental work -- frequently languish, unfinished, in family medicine chests. Supplies of anti-anxiety medications, including the benzodiazepines known by their commercial names Xanax and Ativan, take up shelf space because they are prescribed for episodic use. And as a growing number of adults are diagnosed with ADHD, their stimulant medication often sits alongside that of their children with attention difficulties.

A Burbank pharmacy that dispensed painkillers and other narcotics to five young patients who later died of overdoses had its license revoked Monday after the state pharmacy board found that its employees failed to properly scrutinize prescriptions that contributed to patient deaths. The pharmacy, Jay Scott Drugs on Glenoaks Boulevard, catered to patients of doctors Bernard Bass and Massoud Bamdad, both of whom were later convicted of crimes in connection with their prescribing. Pharmacists are required by law to scrutinize prescriptions, size up customers and refuse to dispense a drug if they suspect a patient does not have a legitimate medical need for it. Many of Bass' patients were in their 20s and traveled more than 40 miles from their homes in Ventura County to see Bass in North Hollywood, and then another five miles to Jay Scott Drugs where they typically paid cash for a combination of prescription drugs favored by addicts.

One recent afternoon in Los Alamitos, I watched Marcy Zwelling-Aamot, M.D., pick her way through a government website designed to help elderly patients select the right Medicare drug plan, based on their prescription needs and hometown. The website, created for the launch of Medicare's new prescription drug benefit, identified 48 individual plans available for Southern California residents.

The British government on Wednesday banned the drug Halcion, the world's most widely prescribed sleeping pill. Halcion, and other medicines containing triazolam, have been associated with psychological side effects, particularly memory loss and depression, an announcement from the Department of Health said.

Diane Shattuck filled a prescription in December for a generic antibiotic called doxycycline. With insurance, she paid $4.30 for 60 pills at a CVS store in Orange. She returned at the end of February to refill her prescription. This time, she was told her cost for the drug would be about $165. "It was bizarre," Shattuck, 73, told me. "And no one at CVS could explain why the price was so high. " Unfortunately, I won't be able to offer a clear-cut answer, either. But my effort to untangle Shattuck's situation cast a harsh light on the shadowy world of drug pricing.

Contrary to speculation that actor Corey Haim died of a drug overdose, the Los Angeles County coroner's office announced Tuesday that the former child actor died of pneumonia . Neither illegal nor prescription drugs were a factor in the actor's death, the coroner's office found — a marked contrast to early reports from authorities. The autopsy found that Haim, 38, died of respiratory distress related to pneumonia with the presence of an enlarged heart and narrowing blood vessels.

For many travelers crossing the border to Mexico, the lower prices of prescription drugs are just too tempting to resist, despite the recent imprisonment of U.S. citizens who bought drugs in Mexico and last month's warning from the Food and Drug Administration about counterfeit drugs in Mexico. Raymond Lindell, a 66-year-old Phoenix retiree, was arrested in May on charges of buying 270 Valium pills without a Mexican prescription at a Mexican pharmacy in Nogales. He was released in mid-July, and charges were dismissed.

Re "FDA Moves to Reduce Accidental Drug Deaths," May 10: Perhaps the fact that "more than 100,000 Americans are inadvertently killed every year by prescription drugs" needs to be on billboards rather than pharmaceutical company ads. Different segments of the media (as well as some physicians) need to look at their role in this: New medications are often presented as gifts directly from heaven. Nevermind that the benefits of most new drugs are often overblown and potential problems may arise that are not anticipated.

A former Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy accused in a scheme to plant drugs and make a false arrest must stand trial, a judge ruled Tuesday. Francisco Enriquez, 37, has pleaded not guilty to one count of perjury in a probable cause declaration and one count of filing a false report in connection with the October 2009 arrests of Tatiana Lopez and Miguel Amarillas, who received a $550,000 settlement from the county in a false-arrest lawsuit. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge M.L. Villar de Longoria said Tuesday that there was sufficient evidence for the criminal case to move forward.

Re "What would Katie do?," Opinion, Dec. 18 Julia Belluz and Steven J. Hoffman say studies show that our brains and psyches appear to be hard-wired to trust celebrities promoting miracle medicines and cures. Why stop at illogical addictions to celebrity advice? Every day we are bombarded with ads hawking prescription drugs with potential side effects so horrific that no clear-thinking person would consider taking them. Yet we run to our doctors and ask for them. Why do so many people take dangerous drugs for conditions that could be addressed by diet change?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that it was stepping up efforts to prevent and address prescription drug shortages, calling the shortfalls a significant public health threat. In addition to expanding early reporting requirements for drug manufacturers, the FDA said it was launching a smartphone app that would give consumers instant information on pharmaceutical shortages. "The complex issues of drug shortages continues to be a high priority for the FDA, and early notification is a critical tool that helps mitigate or prevent looming shortages," said Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

Wind gust topping 50 mph were reported in some parts of Southern California on Friday as Santa Ana winds battered the region. The strong winds and dry conditions have officials worried about wildfires this weekend. Red flag warnings are in affect this weekend. And the National Weather Service issued wind warnings through Saturday evening. Just .09 inches of rain has fallen in the last three months, said JPL climatologist Bill Patzert. "I can't exaggerate how crispy it is out there," he said.

Ventura County authorities have arrested 21 people in connection with alleged sales of prescription drugs via Craigslist.  The arrests, announced this week, took place in recent months and stemmed from illegal sales of drugs like Adderall, OxyContin and Xanax, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Office. Among those arrested was a man who allegedly sold pain medication prescribed for his cancer-patient father, a woman who authorities said drove from Fontana to Simi Valley with two children in the car for a drug transaction, and a 19-year-old who allegedly sold Suboxone, a narcotic, just filling a prescription for it. About half of those arrested got their prescriptions from an Oxnard physician, 63-year-old Kiansi Boni of Camarillo, who was also arrested, authorities said.

The Santa Ana winds expected to begin gusting Friday will blow across a Southland experiencing one of the driest years in more than a century.  The National Weather Service has issued red flag warnings across Southern California, and firefighting agencies have already begun to position more resources in key areas. Forecasters expect gusts of up to 50 mph, and dangerously dry conditions are increasing the risk of fire. Just .09 inches of rain has fallen in the last three months, said JPL climatologist Bill Patzert.

Irvine police arrested a man for allegedly selling prescription drugs Friday, concluding a three-month investigation. Detectives arrested Anaheim resident Anthony Risberg, 37, for sales and transportation of a controlled substance and weapons violations, police said. Police said detectives witnessed Risberg selling drugs and then arrested him. His bail was set at $25,000. After the arrest, detectives searched Risberg's vehicle and found about 150  oxycodone pills, two loaded handguns and two magazines for a weapon not in the vehicle.

Katherine Jackson testified Monday that her pop star son denied he was using prescription drugs when she asked him about rumors she had heard. Testifying for the second day in her family's wrongful-death suit against entertainment giant AEG Live, the family matriarch said the conversation occurred as she was getting ready to leave her son's house in Las Vegas, where Michael Jackson lived from 2006 to 2008. She said she told Michael that she had heard he was using prescription drugs and that she didn't want him to end up "like all the others.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed two bills Friday aimed at curbing prescription drug abuse but vetoed a third that could have helped the state's medical board identify reckless doctors whose patients died on pills they prescribed. The three bills, which garnered strong bipartisan support, were spurred by a series of investigative reports in The Times that linked drugs prescribed by doctors to nearly half the prescription-involved overdose deaths in Southern California from 2006 through 2011.

The ad on Craigslist was blunt. It offered drugs for money, just like a street corner dealer. The seller was hawking Norco, a popular painkiller, for $6. "Had a left over bottle from a car accident," the anonymous seller posted. "I'm not the police," the seller wrote. "You shouldn't be either. " If two lawmakers have their way, Craigslist - the popular online marketplace - will get rid of such ads. If the website fails to so, they warned, it may be getting a lot more attention from the police.