Lawmakers examine bill to create prescription drug use database

Monday, March 2nd, 2015, 6:00pm

State lawmakers are considering a new legislation that will try to put a stop to prescription drug abuse. Senate Bill 114 was discussed by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee Monday. It requires pharmacists in Nevada to develop a comprehensive database to keep track of prescription meds given to patients.

Should it get passed, Senate Bill 114 would also give physicians better access to a patient's information in regards to their prescription drug history. Legislatures believe this could help keep doctors from overprescribing.

Recovering prescription drug addict, Angie Johnson said she couldn't make it through the day without the help of pain meds for nearly 10 years.

"I was on Methadone, Morphine, Percocet and Xanax all at the same time, and I was getting the maximum dose,” Johnson said.

Johnson said they were all prescribed to her by her doctor. However, she said it was also a doctor who got her help after noticing she was abusing drugs.

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Nevada Senate upholds governor's gun background check veto

Submitted by 8 News NOW

Tuesday, February 10th, 2015, 1:43pm

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- The Nevada Senate has upheld Gov. Brian Sandoval's 2013 veto of a bill that would have expanded background checks on gun purchases.

Senators voted along party lines Tuesday not to overturn the veto of SB221, which passed both houses of the Democrat-controlled Legislature two years ago. Republicans prevailed this time.

The measure would have required a background check almost any time a firearm changed hands, and would have barred defendants from having guns if their court cases ended with a finding of mental illness.

Sandoval said the bill would put unreasonable burdens on law-abiding Nevadans and do little to prevent criminals from getting guns.

Fourteen of 21 Senate votes were needed to revive the bill. The scenario was especially unlikely after Republicans took control of the Legislature.

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Submitted by 8 News NOW

Monday, February 9th, 2015, 3:46pm

LAS VEGAS -- The Clark County School District is combing through vaccination records after the recent measles outbreak at Disneyland. Letters have been sent to parents whose children don't have the required immunizations.

Students are only exempt if they have a religious or medical exemption on file with the district. The district is giving students a few weeks to update their records or they won't be allowed back in school.

At 3 years old, Santiago is just months away from having to get his next set of vaccinations.

"He cries a lot," said his mother Karen Ponce. "It's a pain, it's a pain."

But it's a pain this mom is willing to endure.

Per sate law, Santiago must have updated shots to attend pre-k or kindergarten

"He doesn't understand, you know, and we know that we have to do it," she said.

The Clark County School District is cracking down on student vaccinations.

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Submitted by Nikki Bowers, Web Producer/ Digital Media Journalist

Monday, January 26th, 2015, 2:28pm

HENDERSON, Nev. -- Henderson Police officers say they have arrested an 18-year-old man who allegedly tried to assault and kidnap an 18-year-old woman.

On Jan. 22, around 3 p.m., Toyanell Kuykendall approached a woman exiting the Galleria at Sunset Mall with a knife and forced her to go with him, police said. After the woman' whose not being identified, and Kuykendall walked a short distance through the parking lot, she struggled with him and was able to escape.

She called for help, and when officers arrived at the Galleria at Sunset Mall they immediately began to search for Kuykendall. Police said a mall employee told them they saw a man who matched the suspect's description on the second floor.

Henderson police officers said that's where they found the 18-year-old and arrested him. Kuykendall is being held on $350,000 bail at the Henderson Detention Center.

He is facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon and second-degree kidnapping.

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Gov. Sandoval unveils budget with $1.1 billion tax increase

Submitted by Nikki Bowers, Web Producer/ Digital Media Journalist

Friday, January 16th, 2015, 8:04am

CARSON CITY, Nev. -- Gov. Brian Sandoval has unveiled a budget that would raise taxes by $1.1 billion and give the majority of that back to Nevada schools.

"My budget will make sure students are college ready by graduation," Gov. Sandoval said.

The proposal unveiled Thursday evening in Sandoval's State of the State address calls for restructuring the flat, $200-a-year business license fee into a fee that varies based on a company's gross receipts and industry type. It also calls for making temporary "sunset" taxes permanent.

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Submitted by 8 News NOW

Thursday, January 15th, 2015, 7:22am

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A federal fraud trial has been pushed back for a former Las Vegas physician and endoscopy clinic owner already imprisoned in a 2007 hepatitis C outbreak.

Attorneys have said they were working on a plea deal for Dipak Desai, and U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks agreed Tuesday to postpone trial to at least April 28.

Trial had been scheduled to start Jan. 27.

A former co-defendant, clinic manager Tonya Rushing, pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to commit health care fraud in an agreement to pay $50,000 restitution plus a portion of $8.1 million in cash and property.

Rushing awaits sentencing.

Desai is serving 18 years to life in state prison after being found guilty in state court of second-degree murder and 26 other criminal charges.

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Submitted by 8 News NOW

Tuesday, December 30th, 2014, 5:17pm

LAS VEGAS -- Imagine your private medical information being left in a storage unit and then auctioned off to the highest bidder.

The 8 News NOW I-Team reveals that's exactly what happened to patients of a Henderson diagnostic center, including a prominent Las Vegas millionaire.

Patient files found in the contents of a Henderson storage unit sent the I-Team looking for the person who left them there. What was found may have you wondering who has access to your records.

"We were unbelievably surprised that somebody would put all their medical records of all their patients into storage," said the woman who purchased the unit's contents and wants to remain anonymous.

The medical records were found in the contents of a storage unit that had been auction off for non-payment. The records come from a now-defunct Henderson diagnostic center that was run by a man who called himself Dr.