By Richland DUI Task Force
April is Alcohol Awareness Month, a nationwide campaign intended to raise awareness of the health and social problems that excessive alcohol consumption can cause for family, friends and our community. » More

By Justin T. Palm
The thread of alcoholism is woven through mankind’s history. It has left a trail of pain, misery, shattered marriages, sexual assaults, death, loneliness, hopelessness and depression. While alcohol can be enjoyed in a responsible way, its misuse has darkened an already sinister side of human nature.

Each year, governments spend billions of dollars on television commercials, billboard ads, and school programs to combat the scourge. But in homes, cities and nations around the world, alcoholism is growing worse. » More

By Kay James Dells Events
A recent report from Health First Wisconsin estimates that excessive alcohol uses costs the state of Wisconsin $6.8 billion a year and both Wisconsin Dells and Lake Delton Police Chiefs say excessive alcohol use adds to the costs of law enforcement here.

The Burden of Excessive Alcohol Use in Wisconsin report finds that the high costs of excessive alcohol use in Wisconsin are largely shouldered by taxpayers, who pick up more than 40 percent of the costs, or approximately $2.9 billion a year. » More

By ReduceYourWorkersComp
The hottest workers’ compensation topic currently is the run-away cost of opioids, which are very strong narcotics, in the treatment of employee injuries. Key findings from the recent WCRI conference state that most injured workers received opioids for pain relief, over 80% in some states. In addition, the amount of opioids received per claim has been unusually high in some states with fewer longer-term users of opioids receiving services for monitoring and management.  » More

By Joanna Lyford, Senior medwireNews Reporter
The number of deaths from drug overdoses in the United States in 2010 rose for the 11th consecutive year, show data from the National Center for Health Statistics.

The majority of these deaths involved pharmaceuticals, particularly opioid analgesics and benzodiazepines; worryingly, most deaths were unintended.

"Tools such as prescription drug monitoring programs and electronic health records can help clinicians to identify risky medication use and inform treatment decisions, especially for opioids and benzodiazepines," suggest Christopher Jones (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA) and co-authors. » More

Reporting from New York by Kerry Grens at Reuters Health; editing by Elaine Lies
On any given day in the United States, 18 percent of men and 11 percent of women drink more alcohol than federal guidelines recommend, according to a study that also found that 8 percent of men and 3 percent of women are full-fledged "heavy drinkers."

That means the great majority of Americans stay within the advised limit of two drinks a day for men and one for women, according to the study that appeared in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

"And in fact, most adults don't drink at all on any given day," said lead author Patricia Guenther, a nutritionist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion.  » More