Painkillers

SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge has set April 30 as the date for convicted pain doctor Dewey MacKay to begin serving his 20-year prison term.

The 64-year-old former Brigham City physician will “report to a facility designated by the United States Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his sentence no later than 12 noon on April 30,” reads Judge Dee Benson’s order released Friday.

SALT LAKE CITY -- A judge chided prosecutors Wednesday for their zeal in pursuing the assets of a 64-year-old convicted Brigham City doctor, wondering if they had crossed a line.

FARMINGTON -- Syracuse Fire Chief Craig Cottrell resigned Thursday, the same day drug charges were filed against him in 2nd District Court.

Do you know someone who has been told that he or she has fibromyalgia? It seems as if almost everybody who walks into my office lately has received this diagnosis.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain condition seen more often in women than in men. It's fairly common, affecting 5 percent to 15 percent of the population.

Still, I think that it is overdiagnosed, and that means too many patients aren't getting the medical help that could best help them with their pain, fatigue and other symptoms.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah ranks fourth in the nation in deaths from prescription drug overdoses, according to a report issued Tuesday by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"It's not terribly surprising," Utah Department of Public Health spokesman Tom Hudachko said of Utah's high ranking.

SALT LAKE CITY -- A federal judge has decided to hear arguments about defense accusations that prosecutors lied to the jury during closing arguments in the Dr. Dewey MacKay trial.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Dr. Dewey MacKay took the stand in his own defense to describe a small-town doctor who would loan patients money and even deliver prescriptions to their homes.

MacKay's testimony took up most of Monday's session, opening the fifth week of his federal trial on charges of prescribing narcotic painkillers for no medical purpose.