The Latest News from Our Field

A Florida appeals court overturned a $79.2 million verdict against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. this week. The personal injury verdict had been awarded to the daughter of a man who died from lung cancer after years of smoking.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said this week that it is unlikely the state legislature will take up the issue of medical marijuana this year. He added the risks of legalizing marijuana for pain relief require more study.

Offering low-dose CT scans to longtime smokers to screen them for lung cancer would reduce the death toll of the disease by an estimated 15,000 lives a year in the United States, a new study concludes.

All states must link their prescription drug monitoring programs in order to successfully fight “pill mills” and painkiller abuse, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear said this week at the National Rx Drug Abuse Summit in Orlando.

The Food and Drug Administration asked a federal appeals court this week to undo a lower court ruling that said graphic cigarette warning labels are unconstitutional.

Legislative leaders in New York, along with the offices of Governor Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, are negotiating measures designed to curb “doctor shopping” for prescription painkillers.

I am grateful you are part of the Join Together community as we celebrate our first anniversary.

For 25 years, April has been recognized as Alcohol Awareness Month. So how does this campaign continue to be of value after all of these years?

Menthol-cigarette smokers may be at higher risk of having a stroke than those who smoke other types of cigarettes, a new study suggests.

Some legitimate foreign online pharmacies may help U.S. consumers buy medicines they otherwise could not afford, a new economic analysis concludes.

In a small but increasing number of cases, lawyers defending soldiers are blaming the U.S. military’s heavy use of psychotropic drugs for their clients’ abnormal behavior and related health issues, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Young women ages 18 to 22 who drink may be at increased risk of developing proliferative benign breast disease, a noncancerous condition that can in some cases lead to cancer.

A law in Washington State requires doctors to refer patients taking high doses of opioids for evaluation by a pain specialist if their underlying condition does not improve. The law passed last year is aimed at reducing the epidemic of prescription drug abuse.

California’s prescription drug monitoring program is not effective in curbing prescription drug abuse, because enrollment in the program is optional, and funding for the program is drying up, according to The New York Times.

A new Virginia law will require thousands of first-time drunk-driving offenders to install blood alcohol testing devices in their cars that can lock the ignition. The measure is sparking debate in the state.

A program in Philadelphia that supplies the opioid overdose antidote naloxone to people addicted to drugs, their spouses and other laypeople, and trains them in how to use it, is saving lives, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

In the second half of a two-part column, Sullivan Smith, MD, Medical Director of the Cookeville (Tennessee) Regional Medical Center, talks to health care professionals about how to treat "bath salts" patients, and what you can do to help address the growing problem of abuse.

Law enforcement officials are reporting a rise in armed robberies of pharmacies, by drug dealers and people desperate for prescription painkillers, ABC News reports.

The Drug Enforcement Administration crackdown on improper sales of prescription painkillers, which has been focused on CVS, has now spread to Walgreens, according to The Wall Street Journal.

People who engage in hazardous and harmful drinking are more likely to reduce their consumption of alcohol for at least one year if they receive just seven minutes of counseling from an emergency room physician, a new study finds.

A World Trade Organization appeals court this week upheld an earlier decision that a U.S. ban on clove cigarettes discriminates against Indonesia. The ban was designed to prevent youth from smoking.

Sales of oxycodone and hydrocodone are sharply rising in areas of the United States where these prescription painkillers were not as popular in the past, according to an analysis by the Associated Press. The rise in sales is driven by an aging population with pain issues, as well as an increase in addiction, experts say.

Health officials of 135 nations provisionally agreed this week to a deal to fight tobacco smuggling.

The club drug ketamine, known as “special K,” may increase the risk of developing urinary tract symptoms, according to a new study.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law this week a bill that bans medical marijuana on state university and community college campuses.