I’ve never mailed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of marijuana to anyone, but if I were going to do it, I’d at least make sure that it was properly addressed. But that’s apparently not the case for whomever sent 90 pounds of pot to one Philly-area clothing store over the course of two days. [More]
drugs
FedEx Delivery Mistake Leads To Huge Drug Bust
By 10.16.14
If my neighbor accidentally gets my FedEx or UPS package, the worst that could happen is they find out about my pedestrian reading tastes or that I might order too many video games. Then again, no one is shipping me parcels full of illegal drugs. [More]
Drug Ring Bust Exposes Food Truck Selling Tacos With A Side Of Meth
By 9.23.14
It’s no Los Pollos Hermanos, but Mexican food and methamphetamines have met once again, this time outside the fictional bounds of Breaking Bad, on a taco truck in Denver. Of 17 people there recently indicted on charges related to trafficking/selling meth, one was accused of shilling meth right from the taco truck where she worked. [More]
What’s The Difference Between All The Many NyQuil Variations?
By 9.4.14 — Updated: 2.24.17
For decades, sick people in search of a night’s rest — and high school kids in search of something to amuse themselves with — took Vicks NyQuil, and eventually woke up, often feeling like they’d hibernated for a season. Then they introduced DayQuil, which takes away all the fun of NyQuil, but supposedly lets you do your job without nodding out mid-meeting. More recently, Vicks added ZzzQuil and the bizarrely named QlearQuil, but what the H-E-double-hockey-sticks are they all about? [More]
We Live In A World Where Your Insurer Doesn’t Care That It Charges Two Prices For One Drug
By 8.29.14
In one month, the price of your generic prescription doubles. The first person at your insurance company says “Oops, that’s a mistake,” but a second person tells you that the mistake was actually made when you were charged the original, lower price. Meanwhile, the insurance company’s website tells you that the lower price is the correct one — and none of these people actually seem to give a damn. [More]
Traveler Arrested At Airport Because Breast Implants Should Not Be Packed With Cocaine
By 8.15.14
Though there are plenty of horror stories out there about people getting crazy or dangerous substances implanted by way of dubious medical procedures, stuffing breast implants with cocaine brings things to a whole new level of nuttery. And as it turns out, it’s not a good way to smuggle drugs, as one traveler recently found out. [More]
FedEx Indicted For Shipping Drugs For Illegal Pharmacies; Denies Allegations
By 7.17.14
More than a year after UPS agreed to pay $40 million to settle federal charges that it knowingly made shipments for illegal online pharmacies, a federal grand jury has indicted FedEx for similar allegations. [More]
Police: Hey, Knuckleheads — The Bathroom Of Chuck E. Cheese’s Is No Place To Be Smoking Heroin
By 7.11.14
Not that there’s anywhere you should be doing illegal drugs, but public places are exceptionally awful venues for such activities And ratcheting up the inappropriate level to 11? Smoking heroin in the bathroom of a Chuck E. Cheese, as police say two “knuckleheads” decided to do in California. [More]
Police: Woman Who Led Cops On High-Speed Chase Claims She Paid For Stolen Car With Meth
By 6.24.14
While you could possibly convince police that you didn’t know the car you bought was stolen, admitting that ou paid for it with meth will still probably land you in a spot of trouble. Especially after you’ve worn out cops with a high-speed chase exceeding 100 mph. That won’t help, either. [More]
Urban Outfitters Features Hairroin Salons With Free “Hypodermic Needle” Pens During Actual Heroin Epidemic
By 6.18.14
It seems Urban Outfitters hasn’t learned its lesson when it comes to mixing drug abuse and retail: After previously pulling prescription medication bottle items from its shelves, the store that brings in flocks of teenagers is now featuring a hair salon in a new New York City store called “Hairroin” (get it?), where shoppers can apparently get promotional hypodermic needle pens and other items emblazoned, “I Love Hairroin.” This, in a state with an actual heroin epidemic: The number of drug-related deaths more than doubled from 940 in 2004 to 2,044 in 2012, according to the New York Health Department. [More]
FDA Launches New Public Database Tracking Which Drugs Do Not Play Nicely With Other Drugs
By 6.3.14
Medicinal drugs can be beneficial, even lifesaving — but not, always, in combination with each other. Putting two and two together in the human body can cause a million different unexpected, unintended, downright harmful side effects. Until now, those “adverse interactions” have been difficult to research, sort through, and track. But today, the FDA is launching a new initiative designed to let members of the public have access to, and make sense of, all the data. [More]
Drug Makers Raising Prices On Prescription Medicines Because They Can
By 5.9.14
Imatinib, a cancer drug sold under the name Gleevec by Novartis, is a life-saving and life-prolonging medication. The question for many patients, however, is: how much are they willing to pay to prolong their lives, and how much profit a company can make from one medication before it becomes immoral. [More]
Drug Companies Say They Won’t Sell Antibiotics For Non-Medical Use In Animals, But Are They Telling The Truth?
By 3.26.14
The FDA had “Look at effect of medically unnecessary antibiotics in farm animals and maybe do something about it” on its to-do list for three decades, and then last December it finally issued a pretty-please to the pharmaceuticals industry, asking drug companies to voluntarily stop selling antibiotics for non-therapeutic use on farm animals. Almost all of them have since agreed in writing to follow the FDA’s guidance, but are those promises worth the paper they’re written on? [More]
Anti-Anxiety Pill Contains Metal Shard, Makes Patient Anxious
By 3.19.14
People routinely cut or snap pills in half to change their dose or save money by taking half of a larger dose. Generally, they don’t expect to find anything inside when they do so. One woman in Denver was dividing her medicine, a generic version of the antianxiety drug Buspar, and noticed a metal shard. Just what anyone needs: more things to be anxious about. [More]
Outraged Strangers Beg Drug Company To Save 7-Year-Old’s Life
By 3.11.14
Most people would be appalled to hear that a pharmaceutical company is withholding a potentially life-saving drug from a dying 7-year-old child. The drug isn’t on the market yet, but could be administered under a “compassionate use” exception from the Food and Drug Administration. The situation is a lot more complex than “big mean company keeps drug away from little kid.” Update: Chimerix and the FDA found a way to let Josh Hardy access the drug. [More]
Report: FDA Lets Farmers Use Antibiotics That Pose “High Risk” To Humans
By 1.28.14
Before it recently issued a “pretty please” to drug companies, asking them to voluntarily stop making billions of dollars off of unnecessary antibiotics sales to farmers, the Food and Drug Administration spent decades appearing to avoiding the topic. But a new report claims that the FDA actually spent 10 years internally reviewing the safety of dozens of antibiotics used in animal feed, drugs that the FDA’s own scientists said pose a high risk to human beings. [More]
FDA Warns Doctors, Pharmacists Against Prescribing High Doses Of Acetaminophen
By 1.15.14
Even though many people pop Tylenols or slug NyQuil without thinking about the consequences, too much acetaminophen can wreak havoc on one’s liver. Today, the Food and Drug Administration has asked health care professionals to please stop prescribing and dispensing dosages of medicine that contain more than 325 mg of acetaminophen, saying the risk to a patient’s liver is higher than any additional benefit of the drug. [More]
Valve on Kids’ Medicine Bottles Could Prevent Overdose Deaths, But Costs Money To Install So Never Mind
By 12.30.13
Acetaminophen, best known under the brand name Tylenol, is an incredibly common medication for children. While it’s safe at the recommended dose, it can be fatally harmful when taken in excess and the overdose threshold is surprisingly low. [More]
