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Public health officials have focused on the national plague of narcotic painkillers. But another scourge is looming largely unnoticed: The drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults. Since 2013, there have been more than 19,000 reports of complications from ADHD drugs, most of which are stimulants like Adderall, made to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/MedPage Today analysis. Of those, adults were far more likely than children to suffer severe complications, such as death and hospitalization. (Wynn and Fiore, 9/10)

A safety director in a city that released photos of a 4-year-old boy in a vehicle with two adults slumped over after overdosing on heroin and fentanyl said Friday he and others wanted to send a message to addicts they should find safe places for their children when using debilitating drugs. The photos were taken Wednesday in East Liverpool, a city of about 11,000 residents along the Ohio River, and were posted to the police department’s Facebook page Thursday. (Gillispie, 9/9)

The campaign against marijuana legalization in Arizona received a major infusion of cash last week from a synthetic cannabis drugmaker that has been investigated for alleged improper marketing of a highly addictive prescription painkiller, according to campaign finance reports. The $500,000 donation from Insys Therapeutics, based in Chandler, Ariz., amounts to more than one-third of all money raised by Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, the group opposing legalization. It's one of the largest single contributions to any anti-legalization campaign ever, according to campaign finance records maintained by ballotpedia.com. (Ingraham, 9/9)

Patients’ addiction problems hit home for Fishman and for thousands of other physicians who have recovered from their own drug dependence. Substance abuse among health professionals is not something the public likes to think about. But it’s very real. In 2014, a USA Today review of state and federal records identified hundreds of cases in recent years in which physicians and other health care practitioners were disciplined or prosecuted for drug diversion or other medical misconduct related to substance abuse. (Kanne, 9/11)

One of the harshest critics of how the state has handled the opioid addiction crisis is about to take her seat on the Governor's Commission on Drug and Alcohol Abuse, the steering committee for efforts to stop the soaring death toll. Melissa Crews, whose criticism of Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan in a political ad led to her resignation from the board of Hope for New Hampshire Recovery, was recently named to the commission by Republican Senate President Chuck Morse. (Solomon, 9/10)