FEDERAL COURT: DEA can go on “fishing exposition” in state’s PMP WITHOUT WARRANT

Utah to Obey Order for DEA Drug Database Search www.hightimes.com/news/utah-to-obey-order-for-dea-drug-database-search/ SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah will obey a court order to let the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration search a prescription-drug database without a warrant, despite a state law designed to protect patient privacy. The state disagrees with the ruling that found people can’t expect […]

No charges filed, despite ex-hospital employee’s admission he stole patients’ painkillers

No charges filed, despite ex-hospital employee’s admission he stole patients’ painkillers http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/health/2017/08/23/no-charges-filed-despite-ex-hospital-employees-admission-he-stole-patients-painkillers/594702001/ More than five months have passed since a former Des Moines hospital employee admitted to stealing painkillers that were be used to treat hundreds of patients, but no criminal charges have been filed.  Victor Van Cleave was a pharmacy technician at Iowa Methodist Medical […]

Lawmakers Tell Sessions To Stop Blocking Marijuana Research

Lawmakers Tell Sessions To Stop Blocking Marijuana Research https://www.massroots.com/news/lawmakers-tell-sessions-to-stop-blocking-marijuana-research A bipartisan group of members of Congress is asking U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to stop standing in the way of increased research into marijuana’s medical potential. “Over eighty percent of Americans believe that doctor-prescribed marijuana should be legal, according to recent polls,” two Republicans and […]

How we can fight back against Jeff Sessions’ new highway robbery policy

How we can fight back against Jeff Sessions’ new highway robbery policy https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/08/24/how-states-can-fight-back-against-jeff-sessions-new-forfeiture-order-herod-sibilla-column/586246001/ Under civil forfeiture, law enforcement can confiscate private property without ever filing criminal charges. In a refreshing display of bipartisanship, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on Friday slammed a new expansion of civil forfeiture announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Under […]

14 Situations Where Physicians Should Lawyer Up

14 Situations Where Physicians Should Lawyer Up http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/blog/14-situations-where-physicians-should-lawyer Physician practices handle a wide variety of business and administrative issues on a daily basis, often with the help of experienced practice managers who bring knowledge and expertise to the job.  However, there are time when I recommend that a practice and its manager recognize when there […]

In 2015 the CDC reported a record high 33,000 opioid overdose deaths, the majority of which were from heroin.

The heroin gap in opioid tracking is killing Americans http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/healthcare/347830-the-heroin-gap-in-opioid-tracking-is-killing-americans Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are state-based data banks that track opioid and other controlled substances prescribed by healthcare providers and filled by patients at pharmacies. They are supposed to cut down on the abuse and overuse of such substances by reducing the rate at […]