Opiates
To Prescribe or Not to Prescribe? Opioid Crisis Presents Ethical Dilemma
Deaths from prescription opioids have more than quadrupled since 1999. So today, doctors trying to treat pain face a dilemma: to prescribe, or not to prescribe. To understand the quandary, WBHM’s Dan Carsen checks in with two leading specialists who've agreed to disagree.
Commentary: When it Comes to Opioids, Doctors Need to Focus on People, Not Pills
Opioids include pills like hydrocodone and morphine are often prescribed for pain. They also include drugs of abuse such as heroin. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 18,000 people died from opioid overdoses in 2014. Public initiatives from the CDC and the White House have focused on how doctors prescribe opioid pills for pain. Last week the CDC released a guideline urging doctors to show greater care and caution when prescribing opioids.
In 2015, Prescription Opioid Overdoses Increased by 131 Percent
In Jefferson County, the number of people killed by prescription opioids more than doubled last year. That’s according to the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner's Office 2014 annual drug report, released Wednesday.
Preventing Addiction In Schools
In Part One of WBHM's five-part series, we heard about how and why heroin use is on the rise in Alabama. Now in Part Two, education reporter Dan Carsen looks at how some young people are trying to slow its spread in their schools. The story starts with a confession in a small office just outside downtown Birmingham.
