Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. Comprehensive tobacco control efforts play a critical role in reducing smoking and lowering the health and economic toll of the smoking epidemic. But Indiana woefully underfunds these initiatives, falling far below federal recommendations and dollars spent in other states, according to a new report commissioned by the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. Indiana devoted just $8.2 million in federal and state spending in 2016 to preventing Hoosiers from starting to smoke, helping them quit, and protecting people from secondhand smoke. This is only 11 percent of the $73.5 million recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention […]

Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. It’s back-to-school season again. Parents and other caregivers are focused on ensuring their children start the year off successfully – encouraging everything from good studying and homework habits to participation on athletic teams or in other extracurricular activities. But are we focusing enough attention on our children’s safety, especially when it comes to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs – including access to prescription medications? A recent study published in JAMA Surgery found that 67% to 92% of adult patients who are prescribed opioid painkillers following surgery do not take all of their medication and do not dispose […]