Many things go great with peanut butter, but marijuana isn’t one of them, at least when you’re going through airport security. A passenger allegedly tried to sneak marijuana aboard a flight from Oakland by packing it inside a peanut butter jar, but Transportation Security Administration workers spotted the ruse with an X-ray machine. The man was cited for drug possession and missed his flight. He said the pot was for medical use and he hid it because he didn’t have a medical marijuana card. [More]
drugs
FDA Study Concludes That ADHD Meds Don't Cause Heart Problems
By 11.2.11
A Food and Drug Administration study found that those who suffer from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can take medications without increasing their risk of heart problems. The study focused on patients ages 2 through 24. [More]
Copper Traded For Crack
By 10.26.11
Some enterprising drug dealers are helping copper thieves cut out the middleman. They’re accepting copper pipe as legal tender in exchange for crack cocaine. [More]
Federal Judge Blocks Florida's Plan To Drug Test Welfare Recipients
By 10.25.11
Earlier this year, Florida enacted a law that requires welfare recipients to pass drug tests to qualify for benefits. A federal judge stepped in and stopped the law in its track marks over concerns that it violates the Fourth Amendment, which bans illegal searches and seizures. The law would have forced recipients to pay for their own drug tests. [More]
Drug Maker Adds Line To Pill's Surface To Delay Generic Versions
By 10.7.11
There are numerous ways for makers of pricey brand-name drugs to delay the release of generic copies and hold on to the market for even a few months longer. They could make slight changes to the doses or even go so far as to buy a company that supplies a needed ingredient. But one pharmaceutical company is taking a new approach to putting off the release of generic versions — etching an additional score into the pill’s surface. [More]
4 People Get Pot From Government In Old Federal Program
By 9.29.11
At one point, 14 people in the United States received medical marijuana regularly from the government. Started in a 1976 court ruling, the program that facilitated the unorthodox treatments stopped accepting applicants in 1992, but four surviving patients still count Uncle Sam as their drug dealer. [More]
Nasal Spray Gives Hope To Alzheimer's Patients
By 9.13.11
Researchers have found the daily dose of an insulin nasal spray may hinder the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in patients. A four-month study in Seattle found that the treatment improved memory and protected cognition and functional abilities of patients. [More]
Copper Thieves Disable 40 Blocks Of Street Lights, Leading To Near-Fatal Car Crash
By 9.9.11
Miami police are placing partial blame for a car crash that threw a woman through a windshield on a recent spree of people stealing copper from street lights. In the neighborhood, there are 40 straight blocks where all the street lights are dark because of copper thieves. [More]
Yet Another Tylenol Recall: 2.5 Million Cold Multi-Symptom Nighttime Rapid Release Gelcaps
By 9.1.11
The fifth recall of a Tylenol product this year is “Tylenol Cold Multi-Symptom Nighttime Rapid Release Gelcaps.” McNeil, a division of Johnson & Johnson, a family company, said the caps had “slightly higher than expected” levels of chlorpheniramine ammonio acetate (CPAA). The recall encompasses roughly 2.5 million packages. [More]
Drug Scalpers Target Hospitals
By 8.18.11
The nation is facing a shortage of critical pharmaceuticals. Enter the price gouger. He stockpiles hard to find medications, then turns around and offers to help hospitals solve their prescription drug shortage problems, at 4,533% markup. [More]
Late-Stage Melanoma Sufferers Have More Treatment Options Thanks To Drug Approval
By 8.18.11
The Food and Drug Administration is bringing in reinforcements for those who suffer inoperable forms of melanoma. Zelboraf, which was recently approved by the government, joins Yervoy — approved in March — as new drugs that doctors believe will help patients live longer after treatment. [More]
Medicare Drugs Should Cost A Little Less Next Year
By 8.5.11
Good news for Medicare enrollees who are on fixed incomes and counting pennies as well as pills: The price of prescription drug premiums in the program are expected to slightly dip next year. [More]
Make Sure The Nursing Home Isn't Dosing Grandma Into Submission
By 8.3.11
A pill is just so much easier. Drug ’em up and shut ’em up. Rather than deal with all the individual needs of elderly persons with dementia in their care, some nursing homes are dosing them with powerful antipsychotics. Not only have the folk not received a diagnosis that the medicine was designed to treat, not only does the drug turn them into zombies their families don’t recognize, but the FDA has warned that using antipsychotics on older patients with dementia nearly doubles their risk of death. [More]
Guy Arrested For Posing As Drug Rep To Steal From Samples Cabinet
By 8.3.11
As we all learned from watching Love and Other Drugs, there’s plenty of good reasons to keep drug sales reps out of doctor’s offices. They use persuasion and charisma, and sometimes less savory methods, to get doctors to prescribe the drugs they’re pushing, privileging profits over patients. But rather than just be worried about what they’re putting on the doctor’s shelves, doctors should be also worried about what the salespeople might be taking off. That’s the case with a man who was arrested in Northport, New York, for posing as a drug sales rep and then stealing meds from the sample cabinet. [More]
Post Videos Of Your Pot Garden, Wind Up In Prison
By 6.29.11
If you happen to be proud of your involvement in a pot growing operation, it’s probably best to resist the urge to brag about your accomplishments on YouTube. A Southern California man led investigators to his alleged criminal enterprises by posting videos of his pot-growing setup. [More]
Marijuana In Drug Case Vanishes From FedEx Truck
By 6.28.11
Authorities say marijuana that was meant to be used as evidence in a Long Island drug case and was shipped via FedEx disappeared during shipment. Someone apparently opened the box, removed the contents, then resealed the package. [More]
Boston Mayor Calls Out Nike For "Get High" T-Shirts
By 6.27.11
Boston’s mayor has asked Nike to stop its use of questionable phrases on a line of new t-shirts. The phrases “get high,” “dope” and “ride pipe” all have double meanings pertaining to drugs, the mayor complains. An anti-drug group sent a similarly themed letter to several members of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. [More]
If I Hadn't Checked, CVS Would Have Charged $228 For A $28 Generic
By 6.22.11
Had David’s wife not probed closely, she could have ended up paying $228 for generic Fosamax that could have been easily gotten for $24. He’s sharing the story as a cautionary tale so that other people who are getting their maintenance prescriptions covered by their employer’s insurance don’t end up overpaying for generics. [More]
