Prescription drugs

An increase in heroin use has been reported in many states, in part in response to government efforts to restrict access to prescription opiates.

GlaxoSmithKline says it will stop paying doctors to prescribe its drugs and will stop rewarding its sales reps for higher sales. The company has tested the approach in the U.S., judging salesmen on their medical and business knowledge, instead of how many drugs they sell.

Medicare is wasting hundreds of millions of dollars a year by failing to rein in doctors who routinely give patients pricey name-brand drugs when cheaper generic alternatives are available.