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WASHINGTON — Barack Obama won the presidency by exploiting a political environment that devoured George W. Bush in a second term plagued by sinking credibility, failed legislative battles, fractured world relations and revolts inside his own party. President Obama is now threatened by a similar toxic mix. The disastrous rollout of his health care law not only threatens the rest of his agenda but also raises questions about his competence in the same way that the Bush administration’s botched response to Hurricane Katrina undermined any semblance of Republican efficiency.... ..... For the first time in Mr. Obama’s presidency, surveys suggest...

President Obama had pledged publicly at least 36 times that his health care plan, known as Obamacare, would not force people who liked their current coverage to lose it before "tweaking" that promise Nov. 4...

The Food and Drug Administration is recommending new restrictions on prescription medicines containing hydrocodone, the highly addictive painkiller that has grown into the most widely prescribed drug in the U.S. In a major policy shift, the agency said in an online notice Thursday that hydrocodone-containing drugs should be subject to the same restrictions as other narcotic drugs like oxycodone and morphine.

Patients should not be prescribed long-acting or extended-release opioid pain relievers unless they need daily, round-the-clock care for pain that can't be managed by any other means, the Food and Drug Administration has told doctors. The new guidelines - meant to stem the country's growing epidemic of opioid abuse and addiction - will not place formal new restrictions on prescriptions by physicians, but administration officials hope to chasten physicians who prescribe the medications for anything other than ongoing, intractable pain.

Historically, opiate addicts have had a very poor track record for recovery. But evidence-based clinical best practices, known as Medication Assisted Treatment, have been identified by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that have nine times better effectiveness outcomes than traditional treatment. SAMHSA found that certain types of psychotherapy combined with medications like methadone or Suboxone enhance the probability of avoiding relapse substantially. What Is Medication Assisted Treatment? Medication Assisted Treatment is a very effective treatment for opiate addiction. If you are addicted to opiates (like heroin or OxyContin) then you need to take these drugs multiple times...

Last year the Center for Disease Control called prescription painkiller addiction an epidemic in the country, identifying Oklahoma as leading the nation in both the addiction and related deaths. It is only fitting that the battle against such addiction in "Native America" be led by three tribal owned clinics, Absentee Shawnee Counseling Services, OKC; Keetoowah Cherokee Treatment Services, Tulsa; and Quapaw Counseling Services, Miami. Generally speaking, prescription painkillers are opiates. There are 14 Opioid Treatment Programs in Oklahoma certified by the Federal agency SAMHSA CSAT, including the Veterans Hospital in Oklahoma City. The importance of these OTPs revolves around SAMHSA's...

A Wilton Manors woman got painkillers for herself by forging prescriptions for her dead dog, deputies said. Suzanne Lee Kraus, 41, stole a veterinarian's prescription sheets from the Floresta Animal Hospital in Boynton Beach, where she worked from September 2010 to September 2012, according to a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office arrest report. Kraus used the sheets – stolen from Floresta's vet, Dr. Jean Burns – to obtain 240 Hydrocodone and Acetaminophen pills between July and November 2012, deputies said.

Federal Drug Administration advisers voted today to restrict access to certain kinds of prescription drugs in an effort to fight drug abuse. The vote had experts divided over the risk of drug abuse as weighed against the risk of increased pain or difficulty for patients on the medication. “It will have an impact on a lot of patients who have been receiving them for some time for legitimate purposes,” Dr. Lynn Webster, president-elect of the American Academy of Pain Medicine, said per Health Day News ahead of the vote. The FDA rule change is designed to implement

Thank goodness government is getting more involved in health care so we can finally put a stop to sick and injured people using too many painkillers. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced this week that the city is going to sharply restrict supplies of painkillers at the city’s emergency rooms to combat a rampant addiction problem. Yours, not his. I have to clarify that point, because otherwise you may have the impression that “Nanny Michael” is addicted to power, and being a bit of a bully. … “The city hospitals we control,” he said Friday in response to critics, “so...

Yesterday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and city officials unveiled a new initiative to limit supplies of prescription painkillers in the city’s emergency rooms as a way to combat what they described as a growing addiction problem in the region. Some critics, as documented by The New York Times, however, felt the move would unnecessarily hurt poor and uninsured patients who use emergency rooms as their primary care doctor. Needless to say, Mr. Bloomberg was not swayed by this line of argument. “The city hospitals we control, so … we’re going to do it and we’re urging all of the other hospitals...

America's Caringest Mayor is at it again: having saved New York from sugary drinks, Michael Bloomberg has turned his attention to painkiller addiction. The best option to prevent kids from abusing Mom's leftover Valium from her back surgery is, of course, curbing the supply of such drugs, so that's just what Bloomberg intends to do. As such, he's introduced a measure that would limit the supply of powerful pain drugs in emergency rooms -- despite the fact that lower-income families often use the ER as their primary care source. No matter: this is for the common good of New York....

Americans consume 80 percent of the world's supply of painkillers -- more than 110 tons of pure, addictive opiates every year -- as the country's prescription drug abuse epidemic explodes. That's enough drugs to give every single American 64 Percocets or Vicodin. And pain pill prescriptions continue to surge, up 600 percent in ten year, thanks to doctors who are more and more willing to hand out drugs to patients who are suffering. As more people get their hands on these potentially-dangerous drugs, more are taking them to get high. Their drug abuse leads to 14,800 deaths a year --...

New research has uncovered how some cox-2 painkillers increase the risk for both heart attacks and stroke. The once popular cox-2 drugs, Vioxx and Bextra, were pulled off the market in 2004 and 2005, respectively, after research showed that both raised the chances of cardiovascular trouble. Meanwhile, Celebrex, a painkiller in the same drug class that remains on the market, carries a "black box" warning alerting patients to potential heart risks. Now, a team of scientists from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia say that, although cox-2 inhibitors are very good at inhibiting the workings of the cox-2 enzyme --...

Quapaw Counseling Services, of Oklahoma City, has been sold to the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma's economic development authority. The clinic is now called Absentee Shawnee Counseling Services. FROM STAFF REPORTS Oklahoman Comment on this article 1 Published: October 11, 2011 An Oklahoma City clinic specializing in methamphetamine and opiate addictions has been sold to the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma's economic development authority. More Info TO LEARN MORE For more information, go to http://qcs-okc.com. Advertisement Quapaw Counseling Services, 1301 SE 59 St., is now known as Absentee Shawnee Counseling Services. The grand opening ceremony is from 2 to 4...

Sheriffs in North Carolina want access to state computer records identifying anyone with prescriptions for powerful painkillers and other controlled substances. The state sheriff's association pushed the idea Tuesday, saying the move would help them make drug arrests and curb a growing problem of prescription drug abuse. But patient advocates say opening up people's medicine cabinets to law enforcement would deal a devastating blow to privacy rights. Allowing sheriffs' offices and other law enforcement officials to use the state's computerized list would vastly widen the circle of people with access to information on prescriptions written for millions of people. As...

I can't be the only one who noticed the drive by journalist's question to Rush at the end of this video. (And sorry if this video is a re post, but I wanted to emphasize the question this biased hack asked) Right at the 5 minute mark, the guy asks Limbaugh if he's on pain killers again.

[snip] These comments left the impression that Favre had become addicted to painkillers. This was true, yet it probably did not represent the entire truth. The truth, his father Irvin says, was that Brett had developed an addiction to the drug Vicodin, a narcotic analgesic. But the truth also included the notion, the elder Favre acknowledges, that a problem with alcohol abuse could exist. [snip] What, after all, is the first phrase that comes to mind when somebody mentions Brett Favre? "He's a gamer." Right. How many times have you seen it? Favre is questionable, doubtful, totally iffy, completely banged...

Mother of Bristol Palin’s ex-beau guilty in drug case PALMER, Alaska — The mother of the man former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol had planned on marrying has reached a plea deal in her drug case. Sherry Johnston pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of possession with intent to deliver the painkiller OxyContin. Five other felony counts were dropped. “That’s pretty,” Johnston said as a court officer placed pink handcuffs, a gift from an Arizona sheriff, around her wrists. She hugged her lawyer, Rex Butler, before being escorted out of the courtroom and taken to a correctional facility where...

PALMER, Alaska -- The mother of the man former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol had planned on marrying has reached a plea deal in her drug case. Sherry Johnston pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of possession with intent to deliver the painkiller OxyContin. Five other felony counts were dropped. "That's pretty," Johnston said as a court officer placed pink handcuffs - a gift from an Arizona sheriff - around her wrists. Court officers can use their own handcuffs, and the pink ones are a trademark of Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Phoenix's Maricopa County, along with the pink boxer...

Palmer, Alaska (AP) -- The mother of the man former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol had planned on marrying has reached a plea deal in her drug case. Sherry Johnston pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of possession with intent to deliver the painkiller OxyContin. Five other felony counts were dropped. Johnston was placed in pink handcuffs and taken to a correctional facility where she'll be held until her Nov. 20 sentencing.