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The increased use of prescription drugs for recreational use has resulted in a large number of overdoses and deaths.
Maryland Teens Overdose on Prescription Drugs at School
Category: News Tags: prescription drug overdose
Five teens at a Maryland high school were recently found to have overdosed on prescription drugs during the school day. The Frederick County Sheriff’s Department responded to calls from Oakdale High School in Ijamsville and sent four female students to the hospital. The fifth was released to her parents. The incident is representative of the problem of prescription drugs and heroin in Maryland and across the country. Young people are abusing these drugs in record numbers and are facing the consequences.
Opioid Overdose Prevention Programs Save Lives
Category: News Tags: painkiller abuse, prescription drug abuse prevention, prescription drug overdose
Opioid overdose prevention programs (OOPPs) are organized, community-centered efforts designed to decrease the chances that people who abuse opioid narcotic drugs or medications will die of an overdose. These programs have gained increasing popularity across the U.S., partly in response to the fairly common abuse of prescription opioids and rising rates for heroin use. In a study review published in June 2014 in the Journal of Addiction Medicine, researchers from the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine used a large-scale analysis to assess the effectiveness of OOPPs in preventing narcotics overdoses. These researchers concluded that opioid overdose prevention programs typically work well when their members receive proper training.
Death Toll From Prescription Drugs Difficult to Count
Category: News Tags: prescription drug death, prescription drug overdose
It’s been called the silent and invisible epidemic, and for good reason. Prescription drug abuse is often difficult to spot until it takes the life of the user.
Thousands of Children Taking Psychotherapeutic Drugs End Up in ER
Category: News Tags: ADHD medication abuse, prescription drug abuse prevention, prescription drug overdose
For many parents, their efforts to keep their children safe from harm may seem like an impossible challenge. While parents are encouraged to keep medications out of their children’s reach, cabinet locks and child-resistant caps may be no match for the curiosity of a child.
One in Four College Students Abusing Adderall
Category: News Tags: ADHD medication abuse, prescription drug overdose, teen prescription drug abuse
The college degree is fast becoming the new high school diploma. While you have to have it in order to apply for the majority of jobs, it’s not something that is going to set you apart from the crowd. Students are feeling the pressure to raise their GPAs and continue on with grad school as competition in the workforce gets increasingly fierce.
Easy Access of Prescription Drugs Leads to Record Level of Abuse
Category: News Tags: prescription drug overdose, teen prescription drug abuse
Health groups and even politicians have called the problem of prescription drug abuse in the United States an epidemic. In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that more Americans died from overdoses of prescription painkillers than from cocaine and heroin combined.
Prescription Drug Epidemic Blamed for Rise in Teen Deaths by Poisoning
Category: News Tags: prescription drug overdose
The number of people ages 15 to 19 years old who died from accidental poisoning increased by 91% between 2000 and 2009, according to a new report from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The authors of the report blamed the increase on fatal doses of prescription painkillers, which are being widely abused all over the United States.
Prescription Drugs Poisoning Our Children
Category: News Tags: prescription drug overdose
More Americans are taking prescription drugs for both legitimate and illegitimate purposes. As use has increased so have emergency room visits for accidental poisonings of children caused by ingesting prescription drugs.
Prescription Drug Poisonings on the Rise, Especially Among Young Children
Category: News Tags: prescription drug overdose
In many states, drug-related poisoning deaths have become the leading cause of injury death, even surpassing motor vehicle crash fatalities. A new study has found that in 2007, there were about 700,000 drug-related emergency department visits, costing nearly $1.4 billion in emergency department costs alone. This means that every day in the United States, there are an average of 1,900 drug-related emergency department visits and $3.8 million in emergency department charges.
Measuring Devices for Children’s Medications Inaccurate; May Cause Overdoses
Category: News Tags: prescription drug overdose
When it comes to giving over-the-counter medicines to young children, parents should take the time to read warnings and measure very carefully, says a report from the Health Sciences Center at West Virginia University.
Researchers investigated the accuracy levels of the measuring cups that come in children’s medications packages for treating colds or fevers, and the cups did not fare well. Five out of seven analyzed were inaccurate, with measurements skewed by a half to a full milliliter. What would seem like not much of an overdose at first, say researchers, could end up being an amount significantly beyond recommended levels over a period of a few days.