BOSTON – Dealing a severe blow to legislative negotiators charged with reaching a state budget accord this month, the Baker administration disclosed Tuesday this year's state budget hole has grown larger and may reach $370 million, while estimates of revenues available for next year's budget might be off by as much as $750 million.
The administration filed an updated financial disclosure statement on Tuesday predicting for state investors that tax collections will finish the current budget year $320 million to $370 million below benchmarks, and expected tax revenues for fiscal 2017 are now likely to run $450 million to $750 million below the expectations that Baker and the House and Senate budget writers have been using all year.
CHICAGO (AP) — Accidental overdoses aren't the only deadly risk from using powerful prescription painkillers — the drugs may also contribute to heart-related deaths and other fatalities, new research suggests.
Among more than 45,000 patients in the study, those using opioid painkillers had a 64 percent higher risk of dying within six months of starting treatment compared to patients taking other prescription pain medicine. Unintentional overdoses accounted for about 18 percent of the deaths among opioid users, versus 8 percent of the other patients.
