prescription drugs

How Do You Get Rid Of Expired Prescription Drugs?

Alex Heuer, Mary Edwards and Don Marsh — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:26:46 +0000

An abundance of prescription medication goes unused or is expired and is at risk of being abused.

This Saturday, April 27, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) holds the sixth annual National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

A Father’s Struggle With His Son’s Addiction, Why David Sheff Says Addiction Is A Mental Illness

Alex Heuer, Mary Edwards and Don Marsh — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 23:36:14 +0000

David Sheff is a journalist and New York Times best-selling author.

In 2008, he wrote a memoir, Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction, about how his family dealt with his son‘s methamphetamine addiction.

In a new book, Sheff argues that addicts suffer from an illness and are not simply victims of their own bad choices. “We must acknowledge addiction is an illness…and not just bad behavior…because we punish bad behavior…we treat illness,” Sheff writes.

Dueling Mo. Senate Bills Would Each Create A Prescription Drug Monitoring Program

Marshall Griffin — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 23:03:55 +0000

Two bills that would create a prescription drug monitoring program in Missouri received a hearing Thursday before a State Senate committee.

One of the bills, though, is structured in a way that’s designed to block the proposal from ever becoming reality. Physician and State Senator Rob Schaaf (R, St. Joseph) is an outspoken critic of prescription drug monitoring. He says it would violate citizens’ privacy rights.

“But I have agreed to carry (Senate Bill 146), given that it goes to a vote of the people, and that nothing will be construed to require a pharmacist or prescriber to obtain information about a patient from the database,” Schaaf told the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs and Health.

Drug czar visits Missouri; pushes drug tracking system

Maria Altman — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 22:31:37 +0000

The nation’s drug czar was in Fenton Wednesday highlighting the fact that Missouri does not have a prescription drug monitoring program.

It’s the only state in the US without a tracking system or that hasn’t passed legislation to create one.

National Drug Control Policy director Gil Kerlikowske says it’s a good way to identify patients who are "doctor shopping."

47,000 pounds collected in prescription drug take-back

The Associated Press — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:42:17 +0000

The Drug Enforcement Administration's recent effort to collect unused prescription drugs has netted nearly 47,000 pounds in part of the Midwest.

The DEA's St. Louis office said Friday that the six states covered by the office saw 46,686 pounds of medication collected on April 28, National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. Nationwide, more than a half-million pounds of unwanted or expired medications were turned in for disposal.

The St. Louis DEA says it collected: