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The proportion of people reporting use of prescription opioids for reasons other than medical necessity fell between 2003 and 2013, but use disorders and overdose deaths increased…rate of nonmedical use of opioids – not using a prescription as directed, or using a prescription that was written for someone else – fell from 5.4 to 4.9 percent…the rate of use disorders rose from 0.6 to 0.9 percent… more patients are experiencing…progression from initial opioid use to frequent use…Drug overdose deaths involving prescription opioids increased from 4.5 to 7.8 per 100,000 people.. These numbers could come down if we reduce inappropriate opioid prescribing and use and develop new treatments for pain that are safer…

…public uproar about high drug prices has focused on outlandish cases…Biotech companies have launched late-stage clinical trials that could lead to federal approval of two marketable treatments backed by CIRM (California Institute for Regenerative Medicine), the state's $6-billion stem cell program…they may also put CIRM smack in the middle of a burgeoning debate over how to ensure access for all patients to life-enhancing or life-saving cures…stem cell and other advanced biologic treatments will be among the most expensive therapies...Proposition 71, the 2004 ballot initiative…was pitched to the voting public as an economic bounty waiting to be reaped…healthcare cost savings to the state government of as much as $6.9 billion, and up to $18.4 billion in savings for private insurers and other payers. Such savings haven't materialized. CIRM also requires companies to share their income from drugs developed with the program's backing on a sliding scale based in part on the magnitude of the profits.

California Governor…Brown…signed a bill that sets the strictest government standards in the United States for the use of antibiotics in livestock production…. comes amid growing concern that the overuse of such drugs is contributing to rising numbers of life-threatening human infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria known as "superbugs."… Veterinary use of antibiotics is legal…consumer advocates, public health experts and investors have become more critical of the practice of routinely feeding antibiotics to chickens, cattle and pigs…The bill…will restrict the regular use of antibiotics for disease prevention and bans antibiotic use to fatten up animals…aims to stop over-the-counter sale of antibiotics for livestock use…antibiotics would have to be ordered by a licensed veterinarian…California's Department of Food and Agriculture will be required to monitor antibiotic sales and use.

American Pharmacists Association…announced that The Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act reached an important milestone in the House of Representatives, having a majority of members support the legislation…"This is a crucial moment in the public debate on how to improve health care access and how to reduce America's health care costs,"…."National surveys show Americans believe pharmacists are integral members of their health care team. Now, the majority of the House has stated that they agree."

AstraZeneca is not the first company to employ questionable tax-planning strategies, and it certainly won't be the last. But the U.K.-based drugmaker is the latest poster child for tax avoidance…AstraZeneca funneled billions of dollars into the Netherlands to get out of paying corporate taxes back home…AstraZeneca set up a Dutch lending operation and channeled $2.7 billion of internal group loans through its Dutch subsidiaries, charging interest of more than $140 million a year…then registered huge tax breaks in the U.K. and the Netherlands through a process known as "double dipping," or claiming a deduction on the same payment twice…result, the company did not pay corporation tax in the U.K. even though it posted global profits of $4.5 billion in 2013 and 2014.

A trio of bills aimed at bringing order and oversight to California’s medical marijuana industry…This new structure will make sure patients have access to medical marijuana, while ensuring a robust tracking system…seeks to manage medical marijuana by requiring individuals or companies engaged in any aspect of the industry to obtain at least one of 17 different licenses…The legislation includes separate licenses for indoor and outdoor cultivation, transportation, product testing, distribution and dispensaries of different sizes. It...charges various state agencies to develop guidelines for packaging, potency, pesticide use and advertising…sets up a medical marijuana bureau,..allows the state to issue licenses to pay for oversight,…cracks down on clinics that specialize in issuing medical marijuana licenses for people without valid health needs...

Ever since the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of ...OxyContin for certain children…it has faced unabated criticism from lawmakers and public officials who are wrestling with devastating rates of prescription opioid abuse in their communities…. The crux of the issue is whether the agency’s approval will lead to more prescriptions for OxyContin in young patients. For years, the powerful long-acting drug has been prescribed off-label to…children in severe pain… agency’s approval means those doctors will finally have "information about how to do it appropriately," like dosage recommendations…"This approval allows Purdue Pharma to market and promote this product for use in children, and the obvious concern is this approval will change the pattern of use.".. postmarketing data could prove revelatory and useful..."It’s not a given, but it could help us better address the problem of prescription drug abuse in adolescents....

The government’s "utopian" plan for a seven-day NHS (National Health Service) is doomed to failure due to a lack of doctors, money and diagnostic testing services…This idealised...NHS where you can have seven-day services, access to care seven days a week…sounds brilliant, but I suppose the best predictor of future performance is past performance…need as many as 40% more hospital doctors…if it was to provide full emergency care services at weekends…We are overstretched, overstressed and overloaded, and ministers are out of touch if they think that routine seven-day services are achievable with the current resource and workforce pressures facing our profession…

With two dozen scheduled executions in limbo, Ohio sent a forceful letter to Washington… asserting that the state believes it can obtain a lethal-injection drug from overseas without violating any laws…stopped short of suggesting Ohio is moving forward to obtain the powerful sedative sodium thiopental…the state asked to begin discussing with federal officials about acquiring the substance legally…FDA had warned Ohio in June that importing the restricted drug could be illegal…setting up the latest roadblock that Ohio and several other states have faced in carrying out the death penalty…States have struggled to obtain lethal injection drugs since pharmaceutical companies discontinued the medications they traditionally used or put them off limits for executions…"My sense is that the Food and Drug Administration…was never designed to create an additional impediment to states trying to carry out lawful sentences,"…

Michael Johnston…former Georgia physician has admitted in federal court that he conspired with the owner of a Georgia pain clinic…to unlawfully distribute thousands of controlled substance prescription pills… further admitted that he ignored the fact that his Kentucky customers were addicts and were likely selling a large percentage of the drugs... Johnston…acknowledged that he had no formal training or experience in prescribing adult pain medication…many of the patients were seen by non-physicians, who then recommended prescriptions, allowing the clinic to increase the number of patients that could be seen in a day…also admitted that he provided little or no physical examination to many of these patients, before providing the prescriptions; he made no referrals for surgery or other medical exams; and he was encouraged to see as many patients, per day, as possible.