Category: DRUGS
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Annual overdose deaths in Kentucky fall for first time in four years
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News For the first year since 2018, Kentucky saw a drop in drug overdose deaths last year. Provisional data gathered by the Kentucky Injury Prevention...
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Ads and social media hype new, expensive weight-loss drugs; doctors sound alarms about off-label uses and side effects
By Darius Tahir and Hannah Norman KFF Health News Suzette Zuena is her own best advertisement for weight loss. Zuena, the “founder/visionary” of LH Spa & Rejuvenation in Livingston and...
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59% of residents, just 16% of staff in Ky. nursing homes have had Covid-19 booster shots; both rates slightly above national rates
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News While Kentucky nursing homes’ Covid-19 booster rates are higher than the national rates, many staff and residents remain vulnerable to the disease because over...
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Carrying naloxone saves lives; bystanders are present in more than 1/3 of opioid overdoses
By Trish Freeman University of Kentucky Chances are you or someone close to you has been directly impacted by the opioid epidemic, which continues to afflict Kentucky. In 2021, overdose...
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Overdose deaths in Ky. workplaces tripled in 2019-2021; in the latter year they were the 2nd leading cause of occupational fatality
Drug-overdose deaths in Kentucky workplaces tripled from 2019 to 2021, according to the latest annual report from the Kentucky Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation program. The program, part of the...
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Drinking while pregnant can have long-lasting effects on children, but almost 1/2 of pregnant Kentuckians report consuming alcohol
Did you know that children of mothers who drink alcohol during pregnancy can undergo changes to their facial features, accompanied by a variety of lifelong mental and physical challenges? And...
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Maternal deaths up in Ky., U.S., especially among Blacks; state’s rate is sixth in nation; drug and substance abuse are big factors
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Pregnancy-related deaths continue to be on the rise across the nation, going up nearly 40 percent between 2020 and 2021, according to the Centers for...
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Bill to legalize medical marijuana for some in 2025 becomes law
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News After years of failed attempts, on the last day of the 2023 legislative session legislators passed a bill to legalize medical marijuana for people...
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Fentanyl test strips will no longer be drug paraphernalia under law
By Sarah Ladd Kentucky Lantern Fentanyl test strips will no longer be considered drug paraphernalia in Kentucky. Gov. Andy Beshear on Friday signed a bipartisan bill decriminalizing fentanyl test strips...
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Guthrie, new chair of House health subcommittee, calls for more price transparency by pharmacy benefit managers and hospitals
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie of Bowling Green is playing a priominent role as Congress investigates the role of pharmacy benefit managers in the growing...