After falling for more than a decade, the U.S. suicide rate has climbed steadily since 1999, driven by an alarming increase among middle-age adults, researchers said this week. ...more

October 22, 2008

Profit, addiction fuel pill sales ...more

August 22, 2008

It's a tempting offer: Free prescription medications for people who need them the most - the poor, the uninsured, the homeless. Families of people who have died from diabetes, Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease call the Judeo Christian Health Clinic in Tampa every week hoping to donate leftover medications. Some bottles are full or hardly used and bear price tags in the hundreds of dollars. But the clinic's executive director, Kelly Nelson, must decline. "We can't use them," she says, "Unfortunately." ...more

May 30, 2008

If you're middle-aged, you're more likely to be accidentally killed or injured by prescription drugs than by a car crash. If you're in high school, one in 10 of your classmates has abused powerful pain medication. ...more

May 19, 2008

Around a table at Mike Ditka's restaurant in Chicago, three retired players from the National Football League met for dinner a couple of months ago. ...more

December 30, 2007

Type "OxyContin" and "pharmacy" into your Internet search engine and watch what happens. Within seconds, you'll have links to thousands of Web sites promising easy access to the drug. The same goes for Vicodin or just about any other painkiller you can name. ...more

December 30, 2007

TAMPA - Type "OxyContin" and "pharmacy" into your Internet search engine and watch what happens. Within seconds, you'll have links to thousands of Web sites promising easy access to the drug. The same goes for Vicodin or just about any other painkiller you can name. These addictive drugs are strictly regulated by state and federal laws and are supposed to be available only through prescriptions. But with a credit card and a click or two on a computer, it's possible to bypass the system and have the medications delivered to your door. ...more

December 28, 2007

To John Gibson, some doctors are "legal drug dealers." The 30-year-old Tampa man said he is recovering from addiction to prescription painkillers he started taking after an all-terrain vehicle accident and a work-related injury when he was employed at a sawmill. ...more

December 4, 2007

TAMPA – To John Gibson, some doctors are "legal drug dealers." The 30-year-old Tampa man said he is recovering from addiction to prescription painkillers he started taking after an all-terrain vehicle accident and a work-related injury when he was employed at a sawmill. ...more

December 3, 2007

David Carr walked gingerly out of the locker room and bent down slowly, grimacing and holding his back straight as he placed a set of headphones in the pocket of a suitcase. ...more

October 8, 2007