Welcome to the ninth edition of Drugs and Pharmacology. Today, we discuss a variety of topics from how California is fighting the battle against prescription drug abuse to the link between Parkinson’s drugs and gambling behavior.

Remember, we review the latest blogs related to drugs — medicinal, recreational, interactional, personal, professional, or any other aspects. If you were left out in this round, just leave a comment with your blog entry. You can check out the archives for every edition of this carnival.

For future editions, please remember to submit your blog entries using the online submission form. We will do our best to review and include your entry! Enjoy your readings…

ER Murse writes California takes a big step forward in fighting prescription drug abuse:

In 2005 California expanded the CURES program to include all Schedule II-IV prescriptions dispensed. These medications have to be reported to the State Attorney Generals office who maintains a database of medications dispensed. This includes controlled substances directly dispensed from, Pharmacies, Doctors offices, clinics, and Emergency Departments that give out the to-go six pack of Vicodin when patients present after pharmacies are closed.

Brain Stimulant writes Parkinson’s Drugs and Gambling:

An interesting development, several pharmaceutical companies are being sued over the link between gambling and dopamine agonists. Dopamine agonists are commonly used as a treatment for parkinson’s disease but have also been approved for restless leg syndrome.

Reportergene writes Molecular imaging in drug discovery:

Currently up to 10 companies (including caliper, kodak, advanced research technologies, hamamatsu, visen medical, olympus, berthold, optosonics, maunakea technologies, and UVP) sell integrated systems for in vivo imaging of optical reporters (luciferase, fluorescent proteins).

World Dental writes Antibiotics To Prevent Infective Endocarditis During Dental Procedures:

The practice of giving antibiotics to prevent infective endocarditis in susceptible individuals undergoing invasive dental procedures has been called into question by the results of a new study showing that the risk of bacteremia over the long-term is higher with tooth brushing than with tooth extraction.

Herbal Pain Relief writes Herbs Can Solve Stomach Aches and Heartburn:

There is a big misconception about stomach aches. The stomach (thank goodness!) doesn’t ache directly but is usually associated with gas pains. Sometimes these gas pains can be very severe resulting in a lot of discomfort. I have some friends who work at hospitals and say how many people come in for one ailment and turns out to be only pain from gas.

Ricky Buchanan writes Why I Love My Pharmacists, By Ricky Age 33 1/3:

He copes with my 10 different repeat prescription meds (including the obscure and expensive must-be-ordered especially for Ricky ones) and the 4 more PRN script meds and the one-off script I have this week and I can’t remember how many doctor-indicated-but-not-requiring-actual-scripts drugs and is still able to tell me if it’s safe to take a painkiller too when my head hurts.