Seniors have until the end of the year to switch Medicare drug plans to get a better deal. But many will pass up the chance to save hundreds of dollars a year in prescription costs. The reason: With dozens of drug plans on the market, many seniors get overwhelmed at the prospect of changing plans, even if a different one would better suit their needs and lower their costs.

Each year, Idaho monitors more than a million drug prescriptions, helping the state track some of the most addictive substances in the pharmaceutical industry. But Washington, facing a huge budget shortfall last year, canceled the implementation of a similar monitoring program.

Two men burst into a Spokane woman’s apartment this morning and stole OxyContin and hydrocodone. A 54-year-old woman answered her apartment door about 5:45 a.m. in the 3100 block of E. 37th Avenue and two men forced their way in and ran off with the drugs, which the woman had obtained with a prescription, according to Spokane police.