Teen ADHD Drug Abusers Suffer Serious Side Effects

Like Ritalin with fewer side effects, writes Christie Haskell

(NEWSER) - What do you do when your kid can’t sit still—but you’re concerned about the side effects of Ritalin? One mom offers an unusual remedy that goes against standard medical advice: Give the youngster coffee, she writes at the Stir blog at Cafe Mom . Christie Haskell didn’t want her hyperactive son diagnosed with ADHD, so she tried her own cure: The 7-year-old drinks coffee with breakfast. Ritalin’s “not exactly a shining success story,” but it’s a stimulant, boosting blood flow to the brain and helping people focus. Coffee’s a stimulant, too. More»

Overdoses now leading cause of accidental death in Scioto County

(NEWSER) - Scioto County sits in the southern tip of Ohio, an unremarkable piece of Appalachia save for the deadly tidal wave of prescription drugs washing over its population. Overdoses have quadrupled over the past decade, reports the New York Times, and are now the leading cause of accidental death, ahead of even car crashes. One in 10 babies born here tests positive for drugs; the most popular among the area's addicts is OxyContin. “It was moving so fast that families were caught totally off guard," says a counselor. "They had no idea what they were dealing with.” More»

Staten Island leads the way

(NEWSER) - New York City's special narcotics prosecutor unveiled some eye-popping numbers about prescription drugs in the Big Apple, according to the Wall Street Journal :

• One million prescriptions for the pain reliever oxycodone—the generic name for Oxycontin—were filled in 2010. That's enough for 1 in 8 residents of the five boroughs, or 13% of the population.
• The percentage is 28% in Staten Island. Add in Vicodin, and it's 33%.
• The 1 million figure has doubled since 2007.

Lawsuit blames stores for zonked driver's accident

(NEWSER) - When a driver, high on painkillers, ran her car into two guys fixing a flat tire on the side of the highway, killing one of them, the victims' families filed a lawsuit—against the pharmacies that sold the painkillers. That case, pending before the Nevada Supreme Court, will be the first to address whether pharmacies, which now have access to online prescription-tracking databases, should be held responsible for enabling drug abusers. The defendants—including Wal-Mart, CVS and Walgreens—are worried. More»

Adam Goldstein's apartment littered with drugs; he promised to start rehab

(NEWSER) - DJ AM lit up a crack pipe in front of his recovery sponsor the day before his death, the New York Post reports in an ongoing effort to piece together his final moments. Friends told investigators Adam Goldstein’s manager and sponsor flew from the West Coast to NYC Thursday after weeks of worry over his erratic behavior and missed appointments, but an agitated Goldstein would only see his sponsor. More»