Rod MacTaggart

Suburban Teen Prescription Drug Addiction And Drug Deaths Rising

Parents, even those familiar with medical drug detox programs because of their own drug problems, are often the last to know that their teenage kids are abusing prescription drugs, and moving on to heroin and a life of crime. Thousands of families move... Read >

Prescription Drug Addiction Rising During Recession

As the economy worsens, more people are reaching for ‘escape' drugs like painkillers and mood enhancers, and will eventually need medical drug detox to recover their lives. In what may be the worst economy since the Great Depression, Americans are re... Read >

Avoiding Collateral Damage: Prescription Drug Addiction and Antidepressants

In spite of an FDA Public Health Advisory in 2004 warning about the serious risks associated with all antidepressants, the number of Americans taking the drugs has climbed to 17 million, and prescription drug addiction and abuse continues to accelerate. ... Read >

Problem Parents Have Kids Who Take Drugs. But What Is a Problem Parent?

Hundreds of studies have been conducted to find out why kids take drugs. Some of the latest research shows it's often due to ‘problem parents.' Parents, understandably, tend to reject this notion since many of them are trying their best to be, and a... Read >

One Person’s Prescription Drug Addiction Can Destroy A Whole Family

Alcoholism, addiction to illicit street drugs, and now these days the growing problem of prescription drug addiction, can tear apart a family as it struggles to cope with the situation. With each passing year, we hear more about prescription drug add... Read >

Prescription Drug Addiction And Death Rampant In Utah

A recent editorial in the Salt Lake Tribune on the dangers of prescription drugs suggests that in the five days from when it was written to when it was delivered to readers, five more people will have died from prescription drug addiction or abuse. T... Read >

Prescription Drug Addiction Increasing In US Military

Doctors are relying too heavily on narcotic pain relievers for US troops, says a military pain management specialist, raising concerns about the drugs' potential for abuse and prescription drug addiction. "You don't have to throw narcotics at peopl... Read >

Risk Of Prescription Drug Addiction Higher Due To Free Drug Samples

Remember the scenes in TV shows and movies where the evil drug pusher in the school yard offers kids a free sample of his deadly wares, sort of a "loss leader" to get kids addicted and coming back for more? A new study shows how free samples from Big Ph... Read >

A Million New Kids Risk Prescription Drug Addiction Or Death Every Year

Every day across America, nearly a million American kids age 12 to 17 abuse a pain reliever for the very first time just to get high. If you do the math, that's nearly a million kids a year risking their lives -- or at the very least, risking a life i... Read >

Prescription Drug Addiction: How Parents Can Help Kids Stay Safe

According to many recent national and state surveys, more kids are abusing more prescription drugs than ever, exceeding all illegal street drugs combined. Parents are being urged to help turn around a situation that could see millions of young Americans... Read >

Prescription Drug Addiction Dangers Increase With Alcohol

The tragic death of Malibu, CA, resident Christopher Quint recently from a lethal combination of alcohol and the benzodiazepine Xanax, illustrates the soaring epidemic of deaths across the country from prescription drug addiction, especially when mixed wi... Read >

Prescription Drug Addiction, Not Random Accident, Killed Heath Ledger

America's best-known addiction expert has told an Australian newspaper that actor Heath Ledger was very likely the victim of prescription drug addiction. Los Angeles-based radio and television host, Dr. Drew Pinsky, says Ledger's drug taking was well k... Read >

Prescription Drug Addiction Gets Tax-Payer Boost In Australia

Australian citizens are up in arms about hundreds of thousands of prescriptions for SSRI-type anti-depressants such as Zoloft and Prozac being written for children despite warnings that they're unsafe for anyone under 24, and all paid for with tax dollars... Read >

Prescription Drug Addiction Is Being Driven By The Profit Motives Of Big Pharma, Insurance Co’s An

A panel of addiction experts say Nevada's skyrocketing abuse of prescription narcotics -- the highest in the nation -- is caused by doctors who don't take the time to examine a patient's history and source of pain, leading to inadequate treatment and the... Read >

Drug Detox Q&A: Are Untested Naltrexone Implants Safe?

According to two recent Australian studies, the use of naltrexone implants to treat drug dependency should be stopped because of reports of severe adverse reactions. But even if the so-called "treatment" was safe, treating a drug addiction with a replacem... Read >