In recent years, hundreds of physicians, pharmacists and addiction treatment doctors have had their offices raided and searched by DEA agents. Many of the raids were orchestrated by the Justice Department’s Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit, a special team of investigators created in 2017 to mine opioid prescribing data to identify suspicious orders and practices. The investigations have resulted in the high-profile arrests of healthcare providers for fraud and risky opioid prescribing. "If you're a doctor and you want to act like a drug dealer, we're going to treat you like one....…In recent years, hundreds of physicians, pharmacists and addiction treatment doctors have had their offices raided and searched by DEA agents. Many of the raids were orchestrated by the Justice Department’s Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit, a special team of investigators created in 2017 to mine opioid prescribing data to identify suspicious orders and practices. The investigations have resulted in the high-profile arrests of healthcare providers for fraud and risky opioid prescribing. "If you're a doctor and you want to act like a drug dealer, we're going to treat you like one....WW…

A citizen’s petition filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is asking that controversial software used by Bamboo Health to analyze health data and give patients “risk scores” be declared a misbranded medical device and taken off the market. The petition by the Center for U.S. Policy (CUSP) says the software “has fundamentally altered the practice of medicine in the U.S. to the detriment of patients” by depriving many of them of access to opioids and other controlled drugs. The clinical decision support (CDS) software – known as NarxCare -- uses proprietary algorithms to gather...…A citizen’s petition filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is asking that controversial software used by Bamboo Health to analyze health data and give patients “risk scores” be declared a misbranded medical device and taken off the market. The petition by the Center for U.S. Policy (CUSP) says the software “has fundamentally altered the practice of medicine in the U.S. to the detriment of patients” by depriving many of them of access to opioids and other controlled drugs. The clinical decision support (CDS) software – known as NarxCare -- uses proprietary algorithms to gather...WW…

About 12 million people in the United States – nearly 5% of the adult population – have chronic pain that is accompanied by anxiety or depression so severe that it limits their ability to work, socialize and complete daily tasks, according to a new study. The co-occurrence of chronic pain with anxiety and/or depression (A/D) is well known, but little research has been conducted on its prevalence or impact. To see how often the symptoms occur, researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences analyzed responses from nearly 32,000 people who participated in the 2019 National Health...…About 12 million people in the United States – nearly 5% of the adult population – have chronic pain that is accompanied by anxiety or depression so severe that it limits their ability to work, socialize and complete daily tasks, according to a new study. The co-occurrence of chronic pain with anxiety and/or depression (A/D) is well known, but little research has been conducted on its prevalence or impact. To see how often the symptoms occur, researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences analyzed responses from nearly 32,000 people who participated in the 2019 National Health...WW…

The number of drug deaths involving both fentanyl and stimulants has soared in recent years, according to a new UCLA study that highlights the complex and changing nature of the U.S. overdose crisis. Stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine are now involved in nearly a third of fentanyl-related overdoses, the most of any other drug class. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid up to 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times as potent as heroin. In 2010, researchers say there were only 235 fatal overdoses in the U.S. involving illicit fentanyl and stimulants. In 2021, there were...…The number of drug deaths involving both fentanyl and stimulants has soared in recent years, according to a new UCLA study that highlights the complex and changing nature of the U.S. overdose crisis. Stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine are now involved in nearly a third of fentanyl-related overdoses, the most of any other drug class. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid up to 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times as potent as heroin. In 2010, researchers say there were only 235 fatal overdoses in the U.S. involving illicit fentanyl and stimulants. In 2021, there were...WW…

Lyme disease is the leading vector-borne disease — meaning diseases that are transmitted to humans from another organism like a tick or mosquito — in North America and Europe. New human cases are estimated at over 400,000 in the United States each year. Canada has experienced a drastic increase in human cases, from 266 cases in 2011 to 3,147 in 2021, as the habitat of its vector, a tick, expands north. The initial symptoms of human Lyme disease can be vague, such as fever, headache, fatigue and often rash. It is a potentially serious condition that can affect multiple systems in the...…Lyme disease is the leading vector-borne disease — meaning diseases that are transmitted to humans from another organism like a tick or mosquito — in North America and Europe. New human cases are estimated at over 400,000 in the United States each year. Canada has experienced a drastic increase in human cases, from 266 cases in 2011 to 3,147 in 2021, as the habitat of its vector, a tick, expands north. The initial symptoms of human Lyme disease can be vague, such as fever, headache, fatigue and often rash. It is a potentially serious condition that can affect multiple systems in the...WW…