Report Finds Prescription Drug Abuse Way Up In Maryland

(Annapolis, MD)  —  A new study by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene concludes that prescription drug abuse is way up.  There has been a 106-percent increase in hospital admissions related to abuse of prescription painkillers since 2007.  There has also been a 250-percent increase in poison control calls about Oxycodone.  The head of the Maryland Department of Health, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, is calling on lawmakers to authorize a prescription drug monitoring program.  Sharfstein says Maryland is one of only seven states without such monitoring. 

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