More people are dying each year due to prescription drugs than cocaine and heroin combined. These non-illicit drugs are costing us more than $400 billion a year for healthcare, loss of job wages, traffic accidents, and criminal system costs. We no longer have a problem with prescription drugs, we have an epidemic, namely with pain killers and muscle relaxants which are considered palliative drugs — they relieve or sooth symptoms of a disease or disorder without affecting a cure.


Just last month, in Los Angeles, a prosecutor brought murder charges against Dr. Hsui-Ying “Lisa” Tseng (aka “Dr. Feelgood”).  Tseng wrote an average of 25 prescriptions a day for three straight years. She is being charged in three patients’ deaths.


As Rising creates tools to help prevent inappropriate and destructive care, we can make a big impact. Finding the patients that “doctor shop” and identifying providers who over prescribe are some of the most effective ways we can make a dramatic difference. We can make a dent in healthcare costs while improving patient outcomes by directing care away from Feelgood providers by removing them from our panels and certified networks, educating providers with borderline results to help them understand the issues and options, and helping providers help their patients get off RX drugs via weaning programs.  Focusing on turning around this epidemic is critical for all of our society.