Prescription Drugs

If you read TV Guide, People or other publications, you've probably spotted the trend: Ads that urge you to ask your doctor about a specific prescription drug. They seem to be popping up everywhere. Most often advertised are treatments for chronic conditions such as arthritis and allergies. Until recently, these ads were likely to be seen mainly in medical or trade journals.

The number of Americans who admit to abusing prescription drugs nearly doubled to more than 15 million from 1992 to 2003, with abuse among teens tripling, according to a new study released Thursday. The report by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University suggested that more Americans were abusing controlled prescription drugs than cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants and heroin combined.

Three starters on the Brigham Young football team and a former BYU player were charged in Provo, Utah, Tuesday with third-degree felony counts involving prescription drugs. Junior linebacker J.C. VonColln, junior tight end Trevor Molini and senior linebacker Ladd Akeo were charged with altering or forging prescriptions for controlled substances or obtaining controlled substances by fraud or misrepresentation.

Herbal medicines are increasingly popular, but many patients do not inform their physicians that they are using these alternative remedies, according to one of the studies released earlier this month by the American Medical Assn. This can be dangerous because some of the herbs affect prescription drugs that patients may also use. * Chamomile: Contains coumarin, but chamomile's effects on the body's anticoagulation system have not been studied.

* What is your co-payment? * Does the co-payment vary depending on whether you take a generic or brand-name medication? * Does the plan have a formulary, or approved list of drugs? * May I see the formulary list? * What if I need a drug not on the formulary? Is it available, and if so, what is required to obtain it? * What happens if the plan drops a medication I'm taking from its formulary? * Are there restrictions on where I can purchase medications?

A large dose of a prescription drug, not an illegal drug, caused race car driver Tim Richmond to test positive in his substance abuse test last week, NASCAR officials said Thursday night. "Pseudoephedrine, a drug normally used for allergies and respiratory conditions, was found in the urine sample submitted by Tim Richmond on Thursday, Feb. 4," said a report from NASCAR drug adviser Dr. Forest S. Tennant, who tested Richmond's urine samples.

The prescription drug ads that regularly air on television and appear in magazines pitch medicines directly to consumers, a strategy that the drug industry says educates Americans about various medications. But after studying 320 of the ads, published from 1989 through 1998 in 18 magazines from BusinessWeek to Vogue, a scientific team reports that in addition to failing to educate, most don't explain the basics and some cleverly obscure facts about the products they promote.

Police have arrested three Los Alamitos High School students for allegedly supplying classmates with prescription painkillers. Officials believe some of those pills caused three students to pass out in class Wednesday morning. A 17-year-old Cypress boy was arrested Wednesday and booked on suspicion of distributing a controlled substance, Los Alamitos Police Capt. Todd Mattern said.

The Los Angeles City Council took a key step Wednesday toward creating a prescription drug discount program for residents, a victory for the plan's author, Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa. The mayoral candidate has been stung by frequent criticism from Mayor James K. Hahn that he has done little in his two years on the council, but with 12 days left in the campaign, Villaraigosa has an important legislative accomplishment in his pocket.

Propelled by an increase in prescription narcotic overdoses, drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in the United States, a Times analysis of government data has found. Drugs exceeded motor vehicle accidents as a cause of death in 2009, killing at least 37,485 people nationwide, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While most major causes of preventable death are declining, drugs are an exception. The death toll has doubled in the last decade, now claiming a life every 14 minutes.