| Court makes it easier for patients to enter rehab
Pennsylvanians battling drug and alcohol addiction will not need a second opinion from their HMO before entering treatment programs, a state appeals court ruled. In a unanimous decision released Thursday, Commonwealth Court ruled that group insurance companies and HMOs must cover drug and alcohol treatment costs for policy holders referred to detoxification, rehabilitation and outpatient programs by a doctor or psychologist. The ruling will help about 15,000 state residents with private insurance who seek substance abuse treatment each year, said Deborah Beck, president of the Drug and Alcohol Service Providers Organization of Pennsylvania. It's a really important decision that I think gives power back to doctors and psychologists, said Beck, whose Harrisburg-based organization represents licensed treatment centers and school-run counseling programs.
Local DJ looks to help other addicts
As local radio personality Rich Dennis, Rich Knott already lived with two names. His addiction to heroin meant having to live with two lives.
I wanted to party all night, the 43 year-old said. I wanted to do it til it was all gone.
But just as a $200-per-day heroin habit doesnt happen overnight, neither does recovery.
For Knott, his path to addiction started with painkillers for a bad back and ended in a 28-day stay in rehabilitation not to mention a stint in jail for robbing a convenience store.
Now five years sober, Knott wants to tell people about drug abuse and its consequences.
When I think about what I did to my friends and family, he said, and the financial hole I put us in ...
Knott said the formation of Operation Our Town inspired him to share what he has learned, as did the people who have asked for his advice since he gave up his drug habit.
Older Adult Addiction Common, Deadly and Treatable
When Japan's 61-year old Prince Tomohito spoke publicly about his treatment for alcoholism recently, he helped to lift some of the stigma attached to the disease of addiction for those in Japan and elsewhere who need treatment. The prince's alcoholism since college days, and the progression of the disease was veiled in secrecy, but older adults who suffer from addiction do not seek treatment due to shame and stigma. Studies in the U.S. how that over 70 percent of all older adult hospital admissions are related to alcohol or medication abuse. Prince Tomohito's serious medical history prior to treatment is most probably linked to decades of alcoholism. Addiction among older adults is usually misdiagnosed because symptoms mimic age-related diseases, and families often believe nothing can be done anyway.
Cut Drink Drive Limit, Urges BMA Cymru Wales. UK
Doctors' leaders in Wales renewed their call for a reduction in the permitted blood alcohol level for driving.
The BMA's call comes as this summer's Police Drink and Drug Driving Campaign to target irresponsible and dangerous drivers began in all 43 police forces across England and Wales was unveiled.
The BMA wants to see the maximum level reduced from 80 mg per 100 ml to 50mg.
BMA Welsh Secretary, Dr Richard Lewis said: "We believe that a further reduction in blood alcohol concentrations will prevent deaths and reduce the number of lives ruined by drinking drivers.
"The introduction of the current limit, backed up by police enforcement and TV and media education campaigns, led to a dramatic fall in the number of deaths on the road, but the position has been stagnant since 1993.
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