Painful Painkillers

Archive highlights

When drugs bring harm not healing

Wed, Oct 15, 2008

By Marshall Allen

Two days before their first wedding anniversary, Andrea Duncan woke up to find her husband, Clint, beside her, dead of a prescription drug overdose. Instead of celebrating their marriage, she ...

Her outlook darkened as her addiction deepened, journal details

Wed, Oct 15, 2008

By Marshall Allen

Staci Voyda’s journal is a stark look into prescription narcotic addiction.

Patient's husband remembers her wry humor, last pain-filled weeks

Wed, Oct 15, 2008

By Marshall Allen

Barbara Baile’s death was both agonizing and avoidable, leaving her husband of 50 years painfully lonely.

The painful truth about Nevada

Sun, Jul 6, 2008

By Marshall Allen, Alex Richards

The New Addiction: Part 1: Nevadans consume about twice the national average of several prescription painkillers, making us among the most narcotic-addled populations in the United States, a Sun analysis ...

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Family of 6-year-old Las Vegas cancer patient relieved, for now, that drug scare is over

Mon, Feb 20, 2012

By Conor Shine

When 6-year-old Caleb LeBaron was diagnosed with a rare form of a highly aggressive cancer in December, doctors immediately swung into action.

Former customer: Indicted doctor was easy source of drugs for addicts

Fri, Nov 4, 2011

By J. Patrick Coolican

Not everyone was surprised by the indictment Thursday of Dr. Sebastian M. Paulin Jr. for selling prescription drugs to people who don’t need them. That’s because among painkiller addicts and ...

Henderson residents eligible for prescription discount card

Sat, Oct 29, 2011

By Aida Ahmed

Henderson residents who struggle to pay for prescription medication are now eligible to get some assistance through the city.

Doctor pleads guilty to selling painkiller prescriptions

Thu, Oct 27, 2011

By Cy Ryan

A 74-year-old Las Vegas doctor has pleaded guilty to one count of selling prescriptions to powerful and highly addictive painkillers.

Henderson doctor sues parents of patient who overdosed

Sat, Aug 27, 2011

Marshall Allen, ProPublica

The dramatic rise in prescription narcotics use — and the subsequent increase in overdose deaths — has led to a spate of lawsuits across the country targeting doctors for malpractice ...

Bill requiring prescriptions for some over-the-counter medicines dies in Senate

Fri, Apr 15, 2011

By Cy Ryan

A controversial bill to require new controls on some legal cold medicines being used in the production of methamphetamine has died in the state Senate.

Police offer place to drop off old prescription medications

Fri, Jan 28, 2011

By Jackie Valley

Authorities have announced the launch of a “no-questions-asked” program allowing community members to dispose of prescription medications at all Metro Police substations.

Henderson doctor linked to 8 deaths says board bowed to political pressure

Mon, Jan 24, 2011

By Steve Green

A Nevada doctor implicated by authorities in the deaths of eight patients is leveling new allegations against the State Board of Medical Examiners over its suspension of his authority to ...

DEA coordinates effort to collect old prescription drugs

Sat, Sep 25, 2010

By Erin Dostal

Today is the valley’s first prescription drug “take-back day”, an initiative by the U.S. Department of Justice to collect expired and unused medicine.

Boulder City participating in discount prescription program

Sat, Jan 23, 2010

By Tiffany Gibson

Boulder City residents will soon be eligible for an average 20 percent discount off the price of prescription drugs through a program sponsored by the National League of Cities and ...

Drug mix marketed to men prompts investigations

Tue, Dec 15, 2009

By Marshall Allen

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration is one of three agencies investigating the manufacture and distribution of Vegas Mixx — a crudely marketed combination of Valium and Viagra that promised to ...

Murder case against doctor may be revived

Wed, Dec 9, 2009

By Steve Kanigher

Defense attorneys are arguing that a long-standing practice of the county coroner’s office provides the reason to overturn the second-degree murder conviction of Las Vegas doctor Harriston Bass Jr. On ...

Wonder drug for men no success story

Sun, Nov 29, 2009

By Marshall Allen

Pharmacist Scot Silber thought he was sitting on a gold mine when he developed a drug compound to help men suffering from sexual dysfunction. Silber, part-owner of Green Valley Drugs, ...

Medical board rejects deal for doctor accused of malpractice

Sat, Nov 7, 2009

By Cy Ryan

The Nevada Board of Medical Examiners rejected Friday a proposed settlement with a Henderson physician linked by authorities to the deaths of eight patients after prescribing them narcotic painkillers. The ...

Widows: Doctor prescribed narcotics that led to addictions, deaths

Wed, Oct 14, 2009

By Marshall Allen

In the last year of his life, Robert Reynolds was prescribed narcotics by two local physicians who were supposed to be collaborating to improve his condition. Reynolds’ family physician, Dr. ...

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