Also, a new study shows that most states are cutting back on antibiotic use.
Los Angeles Times: Legal Drugs, Deadline Outcomes
Prescription overdoses kill more people than heroin and cocaine. An L.A. Times review of coroners' records finds that drugs prescribed by a small number of doctors caused or contributed to a disproportionate number of deaths (Glover and Girion, 11/11).
Los Angeles Times: Tighter Oversight Of Prescription Drug Deaths Sought
The chairman of a state Senate committee that oversees the Medical Board of California said Monday that he would introduce a bill requiring coroners to report all prescription drug deaths to the agency -; a move aimed at helping authorities identify doctors whose prescribing practices may be harming patients. Sen. Curren D. Price Jr. (D-Los Angeles), responding to a Times' report that authorities have failed to recognize how often people overdose on medications prescribed by their doctors, said the medical board needed coroners' reports to improve its oversight (Girion and Glover, 11/12).
In other pharmaceutical news -