painkillers

Maine is among a handful of states putting limits on the painkiller dose that doctors can prescribe a patient. Some doctors and patients say the law is helping, while others say it goes too far.

Physically manipulating the spine appears to offer a modestly effective alternative to medication for lower back pain, according to a new evaluation of scientific studies.

Codeine can trigger rare, but life-threatening, breathing problems in kids. Food and Drug Administration advisers want to more tightly restrict the drug's use by anyone under 18.

Most studies of music's ability to ease pain have been small. But an analysis pooling the best research builds a strong case, doctors say, that a dose of music reduces the need for painkilling pills.

There's overmedicating and self-medicating, but some vets are "de-medicating." Prescribed multiple drugs to deal with PTSD and pain, they've stopped taking them — without authorization.