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...anesthesiologist Jaime Guerrero, who had practices in Kentucky and Indiana, was sentenced to 100 months in prison...according to...plea agreement, Guerrero agreed to forfeit his license to practice medicine, and to forfeit real property owned by Guerrero Real Estate Investments...Further, Guerrero agreed to pay $827,000 in victim restitution to nine health care benefit programs...pleaded guilty to 31 counts of a 35 count Superseding Indictment...including unlawful distribution or dispensing of controlled substances, health care fraud, conspiracy and money laundering...Guerrero conspired with others to knowingly and intentionally distribute and dispense Schedule II and III controlled substances to patients, without a legitimate medical purpose and beyond the bounds of professional medical practice... Guerrero...fraudulently submitted over 100 claims to various health care benefit programs for office visits at a higher code than the service provided; for office visits that were not medically necessary or within the course of usual medical practice; submitting claims for services that were not sufficiently documented in the patient’s medical record; and making claims for office visits as though a physician saw the patient...

The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications.

In an effort to combat the growing epidemic of prescription drug and heroin abuse, leaders of the FBI and DEA today unveiled a documentary aimed at educating students and young adults about the dangers of the addiction. "Chasing the Dragon" is a 45-minute documentary film that profiles the stories of several people who either abused opiates or had family members become addicts. It profiles the cycle of addiction and looks at the tragic consequences associated with opioid abuse. The documentary also features interviews with medical and law enforcement professionals discussing the effects of the addiction, and how this epidemic is unlike any this country has seen before...(Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict - downloadable here)...

Drug Enforcement Administration...relaxed some restrictions on research evaluating cannabidiol, an extract of the marijuana plant, for medicinal use...The modifications will ease some requirements imposed by the Controlled Substances Act on possession of cannabidiol (CBD) for a specific Food and Drug Administration approved research protocol...researchers who expanded the scope of their studies and required more CBD than initially approved had to request, in writing... the changes...a previously registered CBD clinical researcher who is granted a waiver can readily modify the protocol and continue research seamlessly. (waiver effectively removes a step from the approval process)...A handful of companies are developing cannabis-derived drugs. Pioneering the effort is Britain's GW Pharmaceuticals, which is slated next year to deliver the results of four late-stage U.S. studies of its botanical pot-based epilepsy treatment...INSYS Therapeutics Inc and Zynerba Pharmaceuticals Inc are working on much earlier stages of development with synthetic cannabis for a number of disorders.

Federal authorities have announced that they are reviewing the possibility of loosening the classification of marijuana, and if this happens, it could have a far-reaching impact on how the substance is used in medical settings...Marijuana is currently classified as a Schedule I drug, meaning it is listed alongside heroin and LSD as among the "most dangerous drugs" and has "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse."...The Drug Enforcement Administration announced last week that it is reviewing the possibility of reclassifying it as a Schedule II drug, which would put it in the same category as Ritalin, Adderal and oxycodone...There are thousands of people who are using medical marijuana for a whole host of medical conditions...where the efficacy has yet to be thoroughly studied...By changing the classification of the drug...researchers and doctors could find out how effective marijuana is in other conditions...We could move toward a more evidence-based use of medical marijuana... For too long schedule I status for marijuana has been a barrier for necessary research...

A Nevada Congressman is pushing to make sure emergency medical teams retain the ability to administer life-saving medicine in the field. Congressman Joe Heck says the Drug Enforcement Agency wants certain drugs to be used only in hospitals, because of fears over the accountability of controlled substances and how they are administered. Heck says paramedics should be able to do the job they’re trained to do...current law states that medical directors can create standing orders that apply to emergency situations. If a patient meets certain criteria, a substance can be administered in the field...He says the DEA wants to take that ability away from paramedics, saying they can no longer use controlled substances, even under these standing orders from medical directors. Heck says this will hinder a paramedic’s ability to give quality care to a patient. He says this is an issue especially in rural areas, where a patient could be in an ambulance for a long time without proper care..."There’s a way to make sure that we can ensure the accountability of these controlled substances while still allowing the paramedics to administer these life-saving materials...this bill will specify the protocol for a physician creating a standing order. The bill also says standing orders must be made available for Attorney General Loretta Lynch at her request...

Drug Enforcement Administration...announced...Dr. Francisco Huidor-Figureoa, 48, a physician...Montgomery, Alabama, pleaded guilty...to one count of conspiring to distribute oxycodone and one count of conspiring to commit money laundering...During the plea hearing...Figureoa admitted that he worked...a “pill mill.”...was the sole physician employed by the EMED Medical Management Corporation...in Opelika, Alabama...Figureoa sold oxycodone to pill dealers, based on a fraudulent prescription...knew that the recipients of these illegal pills did not need the medicine and that the recipients intended to either abuse the pills or sell the pills to others who would abuse them...Figueroa faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment on each count...Additionally, on the drug distribution conspiracy count...faces a maximum fine of $1,000,000.  On the money laundering conspiracy count, the maximum fine...could be...$500,000, or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater.

The Department of Health and Human Services has proposed allowing physicians to prescribe buprenorphine for twice as many opioid-addicted patients as they do now...Buprenorphine is a medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder, and certain physicians are permitted to prescribe or dispense the drug in their offices because it has low potential for abuse...Under current usage guidelines, physicians looking to prescribe and dispense buprenorphine must participate in training before receiving a special Drug Enforcement Administration number. Physicians certified to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorder are currently permitted to prescribe it to up to 30 patients in their first year and then request authorization to prescribe it to up to 100 patients—a cap that HHS said "limits the ability of some physicians to prescribe to patients with opioid use disorder."...If the HHS proposal is adopted, then qualified and currently waived physicians will be able to prescribe buprenorphine for up to 200 patients.

Walgreens...announced the launch of a new effort to combat drug abuse, introducing two programs that address contributors to the crisis.

1. ...Walgreens will install safe medication disposal kiosks in more than 500 drug stores in 39 states and Washington, D.C., primarily at locations open 24 hours. The program will make the disposal of medications — including opioids and other controlled substances — easier and more convenient while helping to reduce the misuse of medications and the rise in overdose deaths.
2. Walgreens also will make naloxone...available without a prescription at its pharmacies in 35 states and Washington, D.C., rolling out the program state-by-state throughout this year.

State officials have been cracking down on Florida’s "pill mills" over the past five year to prevent pain clinics from dispensing large quantities of prescription opioids to residents without following proper protocol–and their efforts seem to be paying off...a new study revealed that approximately 1,029 fewer people in Florida lost their lives to prescription opioid-related overdoses over a 34-month period than would have had the Sunshine State not targeted pill mills beginning in 2010...State officials passed new laws in 2010 and 2011 to curb opioid abuse, misuse and overdose in the state by establishing greater oversight over pain clinics. "These laws prohibited ​on-site dispensing of most prescription narcotics, prohibited advertising and increased criminal penalties for doctors and clinic owners involved drug diversion,"..."In addition, state and local law enforcement collaborated with the DEA to enforce these new laws, arresting pill mill owners, physicians and other staff, and seizing assets."...The study’s authors believe Floridians are less likely to become addicted to heroin because people are less likely to abuse prescription opioids, mainly due to the fact that they aren’t readily available in the state.