Pain Pill Abuse Drives Rise in ER Visits

Prescription painkiller abuse is mounting, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Hospital emergency rooms are treating more than twice the number of cases they did a few years ago, researchers found. One of the most abused pain medicines, OxyContin, led to about 105,000 ER visits in 2008, up 152 percent from visits in 2004, HealthDay reports. Experts are concerned about the trend and its impact on public health. Peter Delany, the director of the Office of Applied Studies at SAMHSA, told HealthDay the trend is likely a result of the drugs' increasing availability. "We know that some young kids are taking these things from their parents' medicine cabinets," he said. In other cases, he said, people don't use up all of the pills prescribed to them, and the leftover pills "are making their way into non-medical use."

• Managing Your Pain: How to Use Prescription Drugs Without Becoming Addicted
• Prescription Pain Pill Addiction: 6 Tips From a Mother Whose Son Overdosed

Flibanserin Failure: Female Viagra Drug Disappoints

A new drug designed to boost sexual desire in women is controversial for some and eagerly awaited by others, but it's hit a potentially serious snag. The drug didn't boost women's desire any more than a placebo in two clinical trials, U.S. News's Deborah Kotz reports.

The Food and Drug Administration posted the clinical trial results on its website in advance of a committee meeting today, when a panel of experts will vote whether or not to recommend approval of the drug called flibanserin. (The FDA usually follows the recommendations of its expert panels.) Although there was a slight increase in the number of sexually satisfying events flibanserin users had each month, the FDA staff who reviewed the results said the so-called response rate isn't "particularly compelling."

In a statement posted on the FDA website, manufacturer Boehringer Ingelheim maintains that flibanserin really works, while acknowledging it's better at increasing a woman's "global desire" than "the intensity of [her] acute episodes of desire." That phrasing suggests the drug's effects are, well, rather subtle, Kotz writes. [Read more: Flibanserin Failure: Female Viagra Drug Disappoints.]

• Not in the Mood? You Could Have Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder
• 10 Ways Your Health Might Sink Your Sex Life

Should Kids Take Big Risks? Teenage Sailor's Rescue Raises Big Questions

The good news that 16-year-old Abby Sunderland was rescued at sea in the midst of her attempt to sail around the world alone gave parents good reason to heave a sigh of relief, and also ask themselves if they would let their own teenager take on such a dangerous task, U.S. News contributor Nancy Shute writes.

Bloggers have been flaming Sunderland's parents for letting the teenager set out on a voyage that would be challenging even for a seasoned sailor. "If people are looking at age, they're looking at the wrong thing here," dad Laurence Sunderland told reporters last week as a rescue ship headed to his daughter's disabled boat in the Indian Ocean. "Age is not a criteria. Abby is a fine sailor," he added.

But teenagers are well equipped to be explorers; they're physically strong, mentally alert, and fearless, Shute writes. Brain scientists say that teenagers' risk-taking behavior can be harnessed for good. The teenage brain is uniquely suited to learn difficult tasks, whether it's flying a plane, learning a foreign language, or sailing a boat solo around the world. [Read more: Should Kids Take Big Risks? Teenage Sailor's Rescue Raises Big Questions.]

• How to Deploy the Amazing Power of the Teen Brain
• Risky Teen Behaviors: The 5 Biggies Parents Should Know About

Popular Health Articles from USNews.com

• 5 Reasons That May Explain Why Type 1 Diabetes Is on the Rise
• Gaining a Pound a Year After Age 20 Nearly Doubles Women's Breast Cancer Risk
• Concerned About Your Cholesterol? 10 Ways to Lower LDL and Raise HDL
• Greek Yogurt Vs. Regular Yogurt: Which Is More Healthful?
• Birth Control Pill Turns 50: 7 Ways It Changed Lives
• 6 Common Myths and Misconceptions About Diabetes

Need Care? Scan the Rankings: Best Nursing Homes, Best Health Plans and Best Hospitals