Topic:

Painful Painkillers

Photo by Tiffany Brown / Las Vegas Sun

Prescription drugs confiscated by the coroner's office in the past six weeks are displayed at the coroner's offices Wednesday.

Interactive

Compare the annual change in prescription narcotic consumption across the country between 1997 and 2006.

A Sun investigation reveals a confounding crisis — Nevadans consume about twice the national average per capita of prescription narcotics.

Painkillers play a vital role in medicine, but experts struggle to explain why so many are consumed in Nevada.

Theories abound — the black market is thriving, tourists drive up the numbers and hurried doctors may too quickly write prescriptions.

One thing is sure: As the rate of painkiller use climbs, so too does abuse. And Clark County's overdose deaths from prescription narcotics now outnumber those from street drugs.

How we did it: Tracking Nevadans' Appetite for 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 ...

All stories

DUI campaign shifts focus amid changing trends

Mon, Aug 24, 2009

By Kyle B. Hansen

In the 30 years since the fight against driving under the influence of alcohol began, a lot has changed and the number of drunken drivers has decreased. But some new ...

Federal drug czar makes stop in Las Vegas

Wed, Aug 19, 2009

By Kyle B. Hansen

The federal drug czar visited Las Vegas on Wednesday in an effort to raise awareness about drugged driving. Gil Kerlikowske, the director of the White House Office of National Drug ...

Danny Gans report raises questions from pain specialists

Thu, Jun 11, 2009

By Marshall Allen

The explanation for what killed Danny Gans raises more questions than it answers, medical experts said Wednesday, opening the door to speculation about the entertainer with a squeaky-clean image. The ...

Medical marijuana advocates rally for drug's expansion

Sat, May 9, 2009

By Jeff Pope

About a dozen advocates for medical marijuana rallied Saturday outside the Regional Justice Center -- a symbolic location because the issue is medical and not criminal, said organizer Beth Soloe, ...

Doctor sued by families of 3 dead patients

Tue, Apr 28, 2009

By Marshall Allen

A Henderson physician who was linked by medical authorities to the deaths of eight patients after prescribing them narcotic painkillers has been sued by the families of three patients who ...

FDA approves drug tested at Nevada Cancer Institute

Thu, Apr 9, 2009

By Becky Bosshart

A new cancer drug studied in clinical trials by a Nevada Cancer Institute doctor has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The Nevada Cancer Institute was one ...

Doctor linked to 8 overdose fatalities

Fri, Dec 19, 2008

By Marshall Allen

The Drug Enforcement Administration on Thursday stripped Dr. Kevin Buckwalter of his ability to prescribe controlled substances, alleging that at least eight of his patients since 2005 have died of ...

Remedy for a closed process

Sat, Dec 6, 2008

By Marshall Allen

When Louis Ling took administrative charge of the state’s medical board in September, he fretted that the process of investigating doctors and disciplining the bad ones could take two years ...

Another doctor loses his right to prescribe

Wed, Dec 3, 2008

By Marshall Allen

The Nevada State Medical Examiners Board has stripped a Las Vegas psychiatrist of his license to prescribe controlled substances because the drugs he prescribed to a Kentucky woman may have ...

Prescription drug crisis dribbles into public schools

Wed, Nov 26, 2008

By Jeff Pope

Prescription drug abuse could be the next illicit drug menace for teens in the Las Vegas Valley, Clark County School District Police say.

License to prescribe lost, practice sold

Tue, Nov 25, 2008

By Marshall Allen

A Henderson physician whose license to prescribe controlled substances was yanked by state authorities has abruptly sold his business, leaving his 1,500 patients in the hands of a new medical ...

Doctor loses license to prescribe

Fri, Nov 14, 2008

By Marshall Allen

Saying they were frustrated by how long their investigation took, medical board officials on Thursday stripped Dr. Kevin Buckwalter of his license to prescribe controlled substances after a review of ...

Board strips doctor of license to prescribe controlled substances

Thu, Nov 13, 2008

By Marshall Allen

Nevada health authorities this morning stripped Dr. Kevin Buckwalter of his license to prescribe controlled substances, alleging four cases of malpractice, including one patient death due to excessive prescribing of ...

The myth of addicts’ power over actions

Thu, Nov 6, 2008

By Marshall Allen

We don’t consider it a moral failure if a diabetic can’t control her blood sugar level.

Legally, doctor is under no limits

Tue, Oct 21, 2008

By Marshall Allen

Investigations of Dr. Kevin Buckwalter are continuing, but the Nevada State Medical Examiners Board has not suspended his license or taken any steps to force him to curtail his prescribing ...