Listen Creating a 500-bed treatment facility for addicted inmates, limiting the duration of new opioid prescriptions to just a few days, and putting more drug enforcement officers on the streets. Those are some of the ideas Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam is pitching to combat the opioid crisis — which despite past efforts, has continued to […]
One Cost Tennessee Agencies Are Figuring Into Their Budgets — The Toll Of Opioids
Listen Twenty-five more drug agents. That’s what the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is hoping to add in the coming year to aid in efforts to combat the illegal trade in painkillers — just one of the ways that the opioid epidemic is reshaping state agencies’ spending priorities.
Blackburn Points Finger Back At DEA For Measure That Blocks Policing Of Opioid Shipments
Listen Congressman Marsha Blackburn is blaming the Drug Enforcement Administration for not speaking up if legislation she co-sponsored is causing such a problem. An investigation by “60 Minutes” and the Washington Post highlighted her role in a law that made it tougher for the DEA to regulate opioids.
After Scathing Report On Opioid Law, Blackburn Says She’s Ready To ‘Clean Up’ Measure
Listen U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn says Congress will start work next week on fixing any damage that may have been caused by an opioid measure that she helped get passed into law.
’60 Minutes’ Points To Blackburn’s Role In Loosening Regulations On Opioid Distributors
Listen Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s office is responding, after being named in an investigation by The Washington Post and 60 Minutes for her role in legislation that “aided” in the explosion of the opioid epidemic. A spokesman suggests the measure may have produced “unintended consequences” that Congress could revisit.
Tennessee Funnels Federal Money To Opioid Addiction Treatment For Patients Who Can’t Pay
Tennessee is getting $6 million to fund addiction treatment primarily for the state’s uninsured. The money will be targeted at six counties, including Davidson.
How Drug Combos Are Making Tennessee’s Opioid Problem Even More Deadly
Listen The combining of powerful drugs — both purposeful and unintentional — is making Tennessee’s opioid epidemic even more deadly. The latest figures out this month show 2016 was another record year for overdoses in the state — more than 1,600 people died. And experts say risky drug cocktails are compounding the problem.
Tennessee Lawmakers Have Some New Ideas To Fight Opioid Abuse — But The Cost Is Unclear
Listen Limits on pain medication, more law enforcement officers and expanded use of a drug that blocks the brain’s ability to get high are some of the recommendations a team of Tennessee lawmakers has come up with to combat opioid abuse after nine months studying the issue. But no one has figured out yet how […]
Vanderbilt Surgeon Finds One in Five Of His Patients Is Pain Pill Shopping
An orthopedic surgeon at Vanderbilt has done a very personal study on the problem doctor shopping. He found that 20 percent of his own patients were double-dipping on pain pills.
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