Thursday, April 21, 2005

1 in 5 Teens Abused Prescription Drugs AP story at MentalHelp.net - "The nation's teenagers are increasingly trying prescription drugs such as Vicodin and OxyContin to get high, with the pill-popping members of "Generation Rx" often raiding their parents' medicine cabinets, according to the latest national study by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. The 17th annual study on teen drug abuse, released Thursday morning, found that about one in five teenagers has abused a prescription painkiller - more than have experimented with either Ecstasy, cocaine, crack or LSD. One in 11 teens had abused over-the-counter products such as cough medicine, the study reported." See also the related page of resources at the Partnership for a Drug Free America web site and the full Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (Adobe Acrobat format).  
  

Scientists Add Clout in NIH Fight LA Times story - "Scientists at the National Institutes of Health who are fighting new rules that would end their financial ties to the drug industry have hired, at a favorable rate, a law and lobbying firm that also represents the companies. The hiring has added firepower to the government scientists' campaign, which already is getting results: Senior aides to NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni now are discussing whether to soften a requirement that employees sell any stock they hold in a biomedical company, according to an agency spokesman. The divestiture requirement — scheduled to take effect in October — was part of a package of reforms announced by Zerhouni on Feb. 1. The new rules also immediately prohibit all NIH scientists from taking fees, stock options or any other compensation from pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies."  
  

Lawrence Memorial Hospital to boost mental health services (Kansas) Lawrence Journal-World story - "Lawrence Memorial Hospital will remodel its emergency room and hire new ER workers to better treat patients with mental illness. advertisement The decision, agreed to Wednesday by hospital trustees, was applauded by some who have criticized LMH for having inadequate services for the mentally ill. But one trustee said the plan to spend $150,000 remodeling the emergency room was a hasty reaction to public pressure"