Celebrities, Prescription Drugs and the Candy Man
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Prescription drug abuse is being called "epidemic," even in rural Ohio and West Virginia. How do we get the benefits of modern pharmaceuticals without giving in to the dangers? Also, the SEC sues Goldman Sachs for securities fraud, and President Obama has ordered that same-sex partners get hospital visitation rights.
Making News
SEC Files Suit against Goldman Sachs, Charging Fraud in Mortgage Deal ()
The Securities and Exchange Commission has sued Goldman Sachs for securities fraud, claiming that Wall Street's premier bank sold a mortgage investment that was secretly devised to fail. The Commission claims Goldman and some hedge funds made money while Goldman's own clients lost billions of dollars. Greg Gordon is an investigative reporter with McClatchy Newspapers' Washington Bureau.
Guests:
- Greg Gordon: Investigative Reporter, McClatchy Newspapers
Main Topic
Abuse of Prescription Drugs Is Being Called a 'National Epidemic' ()
Prescription drug abuse is nothing new, but now it's being called epidemic, "from the Hollywood hills to the hollows of West Virginia." The Drug Enforcement Agency says Vicodin and Valium cause more overdose deaths in America than cocaine and heroin combined. Victims include high-profile celebrities, poverty-stricken kids and middle-aged adults, with some doctors peddling legal drugs for no medical reason. But the same drugs alleviate real suffering. How can they be provided to people who need them and kept away from people who don't?
Guests:
- Scott Glover: Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times , @ScottGloverLAT
- Jeffrey Coben: Emergency Medicine Physician Director, Center for Rural Emergency Medicine at West Virginia University
- Paul Christo: Director of Pain Training, Johns Hopkins Hospitald
- Carl Sullivan: Psychiatrist and Director of Addictions, West Virginia University Hospital
- Sharon Brigner: Nurse and Deputy Vice President, PHARMA
Reporter's Notebook
Hospitals Ordered to Grant Same-Sex Visitation Rights ()
From Air Force One last night, President Obama put in a call to Janice Langbehn, who was kept out of a Florida hospital while her lesbian partner of 18 years was dying. Their four adopted children weren't allowed in either. The President told Langbehn he'd ordered new rules at hospitals that use Medicare and Medicaid. Rights activists called the order welcome, but say it was too long in coming. The Family Research Council calls it “pandering to a radical special interest group” that undermines the institution of marriage. Sheryl Gay Stolberg is White House correspondent for the New York Times.
Guests:
- Sheryl Gay Stolberg: White House Reporter, New York Times, @sherylstolberg
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