76 billion opioid pills: Newly released federal data unmasks the epidemic

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 The data in the DEA database tracks the path of every single pain pill sold in the United States, including oxycodone, above.

America’s largest drug companies saturated the country with 76 billion oxycodone and hydrocodone pain pills from 2006 through 2012 as the nation’s deadliest drug epidemic spun out of control, according to previously undisclosed company data released as part of the largest civil action in U.S. history.

The information comes from a database maintained by the Drug Enforcement Administration that tracks the path of every single pain pill sold in the United States — from manufacturers and distributors to pharmacies in every town and city. The data provides an unprecedented look at the surge of legal pain pills that fueled the prescription opioid epidemic, which has resulted in nearly 100,000 deaths from 2006 through 2012.

Just six companies distributed 75 percent of the pills during this period: McKesson Corp., Walgreens, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, CVS and Walmart, according to an analysis of the database by The Washington Post. Three companies manufactured 88 percent of the opioids: SpecGx, a subsidiary of Mallinckrodt; ­Actavis Pharma; and Par Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Endo Pharmaceuticals.

Continue reading… “76 billion opioid pills: Newly released federal data unmasks the epidemic”

China’s epidemic of overwork, workers are dying at their desks

dying at their desks

600,000 Chinese a year die from working too hard.

After 26 years, Chinese banking regulator Li Jianhua literally worked himself to death. He was “always putting the cause of the party and the people” first, his employer said this month, the 48-year-old official died rushing to finish a report before the sun came up.

 

 

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One in five American deaths linked to obesity, three times higher than previous estimates

Younger generations have been exposed longer to risk factors for obesity.

A new report reveals that the number of deaths caused by obesity in the United States has been vastly underestimated by researchers. Obesity accounts for 18 percent of deaths among black and white Americans between the ages of 40 and 85, according to the study published online Aug. 15 in the American Journal of Public Health. Previous estimates had placed obesity-related deaths at only 5 percent of all U.S. deaths.

 

 

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Cell phone theft becomes a national crime epidemic in the U.S.

 10% of cellular users said their phone had been stolen at one point.

From San Francisco to Washington, D.C., law enforcement agencies are again sounding an alarm over mobile-phone thefts, demanding that the wireless industry, resellers and lawmakers take new steps to quash the thriving black market for boosted devices.

 

 

 

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Two thirds of deaths in the world are caused by cancer, diabetes, heart and lung disease

smoking

The rapidly increasing magnitude of noncommunicable diseases is fueled by rising risk factors including tobacco use, unhealthy diet, and lack of physical activity.

Almost two-thirds of deaths in the world are caused by noncommunicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart and lung disease which are rapidly increasing at a cost to the global economy of trillions of dollars, according to U.N. estimates and preliminary results of a new study.

 

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Smoking Death Toll Could Reach 8 Million a Year by 2030

smoking

Tobacco will kill 6 million people this year.

Nearly six million people, including 600,000 non-smokers, will die this this year from tobacco. Governments are not doing enough to persuade people to quit or protect others from second-hand smoke, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

 

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