Public Health

States that required physicians to check prescription drug monitoring programs before writing an opioid prescription saw lower rates of "physician shopping," which is the practice of visiting several providers to obtain multiple prescriptions for painkillers, according to a new study…

Public officials in southern Illinois are monitoring the deadly synthetic opioid U-47700 — commonly known as "pink" and "U-4" — which first entered the state in 2016, according to the Herald & Review.

The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement found health plans for public school and state employees spent, on average, 31 percent more covering obese policyholders or their spouses as opposed to other policyholders in 2015, according to an ArkansasOnline report.

Two lawmakers from California proposed legislation Friday calling for a universal healthcare system to cover the state's 38 million residents, according to a Santa Cruz Sentinel report.

The number of babies born with drug withdrawal symptoms in Maryland hit 1,419 cases in 2015, marking a 56.6 percent increase in the last nine years, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Governor Bill Walker, I-Alaska, declared the state's opioid epidemic a public health crisis, according to a report from KYUK.

Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna will remove preauthorization requirements for opioid abuse treatment for all of its private insurance plans beginning in March, an Aetna spokesperson confirmed to NPR. 

New Jersey is targeting opioid abuse through legislation recently signed into law by Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

Which physician treats a patient in the emergency room may determine how long the patient stays on opioids, according to a study published Wednesday in TheNew England Journal of Medicine.

The Chinese government is adding the deadly elephant tranquilizer carfentanil to the nation's list of controlled substances. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration categorized the move as a potential "game changer" for the American opioid epidemic, according to a report…