Yearly Archives: 2018

With the help of new funding, Lawrence General Hospital will be able to provide added assistance to pregnant women who are addicted to opiates. The $100,000 grant from the Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation will support the hospital’s hiring of “patient … Read More

Just-released figures show illicit-drug abuse deaths rose 4 percent in California in 2017 to 5,300, the highest number and rate in six decades of record-keeping. The “good” news such as it is: California is doing much better than the rest … Read More

If you think the opioid epidemic is only affecting younger folks, think again. According to a report in Psychiatric Times, while opioid use disorders are more common in younger patients, “prevalence among the elderly is growing, and misuse poses unique … Read More

One at a home, the other at a hotel Four days before Christmas, Ocala police officers assisted in reviving two people who suffered drug overdoses. They were separate instances at different locations, with less than half an hour between the … Read More

Cancer patients are often prescribed pain medications, for example during recovery from surgical procedures. However, for many cancer patients, the use of opioid pain medications during treatment can be a gateway to misuse or addiction once treatment ends. Now with … Read More

A lot can happen in 24 hours. Set during a single 24-hour period on Christmas Eve, “Ben is Back” follows a mother scrambling to deal with the unexpected return of her son from rehab. The teenage Ben (Lucas Hedges) has … Read More

One woman spoke of how her mother, at 72 years old, and in pain because of degenerative bone disease, saw only one way out after her opioids were tapered down. She committed suicide. A husband whose wife of 50 years … Read More

In the midst of what’s considered the nation’s worst public health crisis so far in the 21st century, one Ohio county is dramatically reducing the number of deaths related to opioid overdoses. A new report shows overdose deaths plunged by 31 percent … Read More

Cpl. Adam Lillengreen has served with the University of Oregon Police Department since 2008. He became an officer of the law to uphold virtue. He would be one of the good guys. “I got into this job for the thrill … Read More

Medical knowledge is evolving at warp speed, spinning out reams of new information into sound bites, articles and more and more new health books to overload your sagging shelves. But if you’re tempted to toss out all the old stuff, … Read More