The Story Of How A Statistic On Opioid Prescriptions Got Twisted Into A Winning Talking Point By The President
The Washington Post Fact Checker looks at President Donald Trump's recent claims about his administration's impact on the opioid epidemic are lacking in nuance. Meanwhile, state attorneys general worry about an updated version of the government's prescribing guidelines.
The Washington Post Fact Checker:
Trump’s Claim Of ‘Amazing’ Success In Cutting Opioid Prescriptions
During a recent speech on the administration’s efforts to ease the opioid crisis, President Trump asserted that his administration had already achieved its goal of cutting nationwide opioid prescriptions by one-third. Trump’s original goal, made on March 19, 2018, was to reach this target within three years. So obviously we were curious about whether the claim about already reaching the milestone within a year was valid. (Kessler, 5/2)
Stat:
State AGs Criticize A Government Task Force Over Opioid Prescribing
As the opioid crisis continues unabated, a federal task force meets next week to review a draft report on managing pain, but dozens of attorneys general worry the final version may be used to unravel prescribing guidelines already issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The draft from the Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force covers a lot of ground in attempting to find ways to address acute and chronic pain management: medicines, other medical approaches, overdose prevention, insurance coverage, and treating different patient populations, among other things. (Silverman, 5/1)
