prescription drugs

ER visits surge for abuse of legal drugs

In 2008, roughly one million people wound up in the emergency room for abuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs — just as many as visited the ER after using illegal substances, according to new data released yesterday by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Centers for Disease Control

More people hospitalized for prescription drug overdose

Between 1999 and 2006 the number of people hospitalized for poisoning from prescription drugs including opioids (such as OxyContin and Vicodin) and tranquilizers and sedatives (depressants such as Valium, Xanax and Ambien) has increased by 65%—representing nearly twice the increase in hospitalizations due to overdose with other

For teens, prescription drugs are easy to come by

More then one third of U.S. teens say they can get a hold of prescription drugs—to use for getting high—within just a day, according to a study from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. Among kids between the ages of 12 and 17, nearly one in five said they would be able to access

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