Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Phil AmmannMarch 23, 2016

Prescription drug abuse has affected the lives of teens and young adults in drastic ways. Kids are abusing and even becoming addicted to pills often found in the medicine cabinets at their own homes. Across the country, we are at risk of losing thousands of kids and young adults to drug overdoses from medically prescribed […]

Peter SchorschFebruary 5, 2016

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is vowing to continue the fight to stop the use of the botanical kratom, a plant-based product used as a homeopathic treatment that is beginning to concern authorities and healthcare professionals in Florida. PainMedicineNews.com reports that FDA officials recently seized 90,000 bottles of the dietary supplement manufactured under the […]

Guest AuthorSeptember 25, 2015

Prescription drug misuse has been identified as Florida’s “fastest-growing and deadliest public safety issue,” according to Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Prescription Drug Diversion and Abuse Roadmap. Prescription painkiller overdoses have more than tripled in the past two decades, killing more than 15,500 people in the United States in 2009 according to the CDC. On Saturday, […]

Guest AuthorMarch 31, 2015

Florida legislators created a prescription drug program in 2009 to monitor controlled substances, which has helped reduce the number of Floridians who suffer from prescription drug addiction. Medications provide great benefit to patients when used correctly and under the guidance of their treating physician. Some opioid drugs, though, are crushed into powder or injected by […]

Peter SchorschMarch 8, 2015

Somebody has to be first, right? Last month, Florida Politics reported on the surge of Kratom, a plant-based product used as a homeopathic medicine that has begun to concern Florida authorities. Traditionally, Kratom leaves — indigenous to Thailand and Malaysia — are chewed to treat a variety of ailments: reducing pain, an anti-diarrheal, and to reduce […]

Tag: U.S. Food and Drug Administration
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Marcia Lee Taylor: Legislature passes bill to combat drug overdoses

FDA vows to crack down on kratom, seizes $400K shipment

Mary Elizabeth Elliott: Pilot project to make medication disposal safer, more effective

Sandi Frear: Why abuse-deterring opioids must be a priority this legislative session

Tampa Bay Times finally arrives at the Kratom party