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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: prescription painkillers

prescription painkillers stories: 15 news summaries

Suit Wants Pharmacies
to Bust Drug Abusers

Lawsuit blames stores for zonked driver's accident

Oct 28, 09 10:05 AM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
prescription drugs • drug abuse • CVS • Walgreens • Wal-Mart • prescription painkillers • pharmacy

OH BROTHER


 Big Brother 
 Winner 
 Nabbed for 
 Peddling Oxy 

Jasinski says he used $500K prize to buy, sell painkillers

Oct 20, 09 1:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - Big Brother 9 winner Adam Jasinski made his first court appearance today in Massachusetts after being charged with trying to sell 2,000 prescription painkiller pills. After a brief struggle with agents, the DEA says Jasinski waived his Miranda rights and confessed to using his $500,000 winnings from... More »

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reality TV • OxyContin • DEA • prescription drugs • Drug Enforcement Administration • Oxycodone • Big Brother • contestants • prescription painkillers • Adam Jasinski • winner

BBC Journo Stuns Brown with Pill-Popping Question

Labor furious after interviewer follows up Internet rumors

Sep 28, 09 3:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - Gordon Brown's office and the British Labor Party are furious with the BBC after the host of the channel's flagship political program asked the prime minister if he took prescription painkillers. Downing Street had already denied the rumor, which began on the Internet. A shocked Brown responded: "No! I... More »

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BBC • Gordon Brown • Labour • Labour Party • painkiller • Andrew Marr • prescription painkillers

 Anna Nicole Had 
 Lesbian Affair With 
 Drug-Happy Shrink 

Pharmacists refused to fill drug cocktail order for Smith doc Khristine Eroshevich

Sep 22, 09 9:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - Newly unsealed documents in the Anna Nicole Smith investigation reveal the Playmate had a lesbian tryst with her psychiatrist, Khristine Eroshevich—the same psychiatrist who ordered a drug cocktail so dangerous that one pharmacist who refused to fill the order called it “pharmaceutical suicide,” the Los Angeles ... More »

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entertainment • Anna Nicole Smith • lesbians • celebrity • overdose • prescription drugs • prescription • prescription painkillers • drug cocktail • celebrity death • drug overdose

 DJ AM Spent 
 Last Day on 
 Crack, Pills 

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

Sep 1, 09 9:35 AM CDT
(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... More »

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entertainment • drugs • drug addiction • celebrity • overdose • prescription drugs • drug abuse • crack cocaine • prescription painkillers • DJ AM • Adam Goldstein • celebrity death • drug overdose

 Jacko Doc 
 Disputes 
 Cops' Timeline 

Plus, more dirt on yet another Jacko doc

Aug 25, 09 10:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - As a timeline of Michael Jackson’s final hours began to emerge, Dr. Conrad Murray’s lawyer was was quick to question it, calling it “police theory” in a statement yesterday, the AP reports. “Dr. Murray simply never told investigators that he found Michael Jackson at 11am not... More »

MORE ABOUT:
entertainment • drugs • drug addiction • celebrity • prescription drugs • drug abuse • Michael Jackson • prescription painkillers • drug cocktail • Conrad Murray • celebrity death • Propofol • Arnold Klein • drug overdose

(Newser) - A British doctor friend of Michael Jackson fired off a letter to President Obama—or "Barack," as she calls him—pleading for tougher laws for "unethical doctors" who ply patients with drugs. Dr. Susan Etok, who says she turned down more than $800,000 from the King... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • drug addiction • doctor • painkiller • Michael Jackson • prescription painkillers

 Jackson 
 'Self-Harmed' 
 to Get Drugs 

Singer was spending $50K a month on prescriptions

Aug 19, 09 8:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Toward the end of his life Michael Jackson was so desperate for prescription drugs, sources tell investigators he harmed himself in an effort to get more, the Mirror reports. Jackson was reportedly spending nearly $50,000 a month on drugs including Vicodin, Soma, Xanax, Zoloft, Paxil, and Prilosec, and... More »

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entertainment • drug addiction • celebrity • addiction • painkiller • Michael Jackson • prescription painkillers • celebrity death

(Newser) - Los Angeles police and officials from the county coroner's office have removed bags of prescription drugs and medical material from Michael Jackson's home, and are interviewing doctors who prescribed the medications, reports the Los Angeles Times. It's not yet known if the drugs played a role in Jackson's heart attack... More »

MORE ABOUT:
drugs • overdose • death • prescription drugs • heart attack • Michael Jackson • prescription painkillers

 Jackson Drug 
 Cocktail: 3 Painkillers,
 2 Anti-Depressants 

Star was on
powerful mix of narcotics, painkillers

Jun 27, 09 3:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Sun gets the details on the potentially lethal cocktail of prescription drugs Michael Jackson was on in the months before his death. Jackson took addictive narcotic painkillers Demerol and Diluadid daily, the Sun's sources say, and had recently added Vicodin to the mix. He also took a muscle... More »

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prescription drugs • Vicodin • painkiller • Michael Jackson • prescription painkillers • Demerol

 Abdul 
 Reveals 
 Painkiller 
 Addiction 

American Idol judge turned to meds after dancing injuries

May 5, 09 4:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - Paula Abdul tells the Ladies' Home Journal she was addicted to heavy-duty painkillers for 12 years until she kicked the habit last November. Abdul insists, however, that she never shot an American Idol episode while under the influence. The 46-year-old turned to prescription meds—which made her act "weird"... More »

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American Idol • rehab • pop music • rehabilitation • painkiller • prescription painkillers • Paula Abdul • Celebrity Rehab

Levi's Mom Admits Pill Addiction: 'I'm Still in Pain'

Sherry Johnston, grandmother to Bristol Palin's newborn son, spills on OxyContin

Jan 8, 09 4:55 PM CST
(Newser) - Sarah Palin’s fellow grandmother says she’s getting a bad rap in the press over her recent drug arrest. Sherry Johnston—mother of Levi, who recently fathered a son with Bristol Palin—tells People she has been addicted to OxyContin since a hysterectomy 8 years ago. “I was... More »

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OxyContin • prescription painkillers • Sarah Palin • Bristol Palin • Levi Johnston • Sherry Johnston • hysterectomy

 Jacko 'Has 6 Months to Live' 

Enquirer says singer terminally ill

Jan 8, 09 1:36 AM CST
(Newser) - Michael Jackson is terminally ill and has only 6 months to live, claims the National Enquirer. The supermarket tabloid reports Jackson is suffering from gastro-intestinal bleeding, as well as emphysema caused by a rare genetic condition made worse by the singer’s longtime addiction to painkillers. Anonymous sources say his... More »

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celebrity • Michael Jackson • rumor • prescription painkillers • emphysema • gastro-intestinal bleeding • lung transplant

Cindy's Addiction: It Claimed Several Other Victims

Misuse of charity embroiled doctor, aide

Sep 12, 08 11:02 AM CDT
(Newser) - Cindy McCain is open about her painkiller addiction in the early 1990s—to a point, the Washington Post reports in an account of that period. Though she speaks of it frequently as a story of personal struggle, what she doesn't say is that she was in serious legal jeopardy for... More »

MORE ABOUT:
John McCain • drug addiction • Phoenix • charity • doctor • Cindy McCain • prescription painkillers

Back Pain's Insidious Cost Rises

US spends ever more on treatment—without much to show for it

Feb 14, 08 1:19 PM CST
(Newser) - Back pain is one of the US' most persistent health problems, but despite new treatment possibilities, Newsweek reports, cures remain elusive. Americans spent $85.9 billion in 2005 on medical costs relating to back pain, up from $52.1 billion in 1997. "We seem to be doing more and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
surgery • medical costs • physical therapy • exercise • back pain • excercise • imaging tests • pain relief • prescription painkillers

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