Over the past decade, psycho-stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin have crossed over from treatment for people diagnosed with ADHD to black market cognitive enhancement. Studies show that as many as one in three students have been diagnosed with ADHD or used ADHD medications illicitly as a study aid. The demand has led to shortages of the meds in pharmacies across the country and questions about addiction and dependency. Will Oremus, staff writer for slate.com wrote about his own experience with ADHD drugs, and the somewhat arbitrary nature of what is legal--coffee and nicotine--and what is illicit.
Today’s frantic, always 'on' lifestyle have you feeling anxious? Pop a pill! Prescriptions for benzodiazepines like Xanax, Ativan, Klonopin and Valium have risen 17% since 2006 to nearly 94 million each year. An increasing number of Americans have no qualms about taking a cheap and effective benzo before a high-stakes meeting, or when facing a loaded “to-do” list.
At Universal Pain Management, Dr. Francis Riegler confers with Trudy Roberts, the clinic's nurse practitioner, over a patient's record of prescription drug purchases.
This is a story about what can happen when no one is looking. For the patients at Universal Pain Management, a medical clinic in northern Los Angeles County, Dr. Francis Riegler is always looking.
Riegler huddles with the clinic's nurse practitioner over a computer printout. The one-page report from the state's drug-tracking system shows that a patient was on the hunt for more Vicodin, a powerful pain reliever that he was already getting from Riegler's clinic.
A key federal panel Wednesday recommended the Food and Drug Administration approve the first new weight-loss drug in more than a decade.
At the conclusion of a day-long hearing, the FDA's Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 20-2 to endorse a request from Vivus to approve the drug Qnexa. The same panel gave a thumbs-down to Qnexa in 2010.
Qnexa is a combination of two generic drugs that are already on the market:
