Latest News On Substance Misuse

Latest California Healthline Stories

Clinicians Who Learn Of A Patient’s Opioid Death Modestly Cut Back On Prescriptions

A study published Thursday shows that doctors, dentists and other medical providers cut overall opioid dosages by nearly 10 percent after receiving notification of a death from a medical examiner and information on safe prescribing.

Listen: Inexpensive Nerve Drug Often Abused As Opioid Epidemic Grows

Gabapentin, a medication approved to help patients with nerve pain or epilepsy, is being abused by people addicted to opioids to help prolong their high or stave off withdrawal from other drugs. Kaiser Health News reporter Carmen Heredia Rodriguez talks about the problem during a wide-ranging health discussion on the NPR program “On Point.”

Doling Out Pain Pills Post-Surgery: An Ingrown Toenail Not The Same As A Bypass

As the opioid epidemic rages, a Johns Hopkins surgeon and researcher is leading an effort to curb overprescribing by offering procedure-specific guidelines to ensure that post-surgical patients leave the hospital with enough, but not too much, pain medication.