Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Absence Of Opioids Makes Pain Management 'Challenging' In Operating, Delivery Rooms In Poorest Countries
Health News Florida: A Place Where The Opioid Problem Is Upside Down
In the U.S., the opioid crisis is about too many opioids. In some other parts of the world, the opioid problem is about the exact opposite — a lack of access to powerful pain management drugs. As pharmaceutical companies are being sued in the U.S. for flooding the market with opioids, doctors in West Africa say they can't even get hold of those painkillers. (Beaubien, 9/27)
The Washington Post: Purdue Pharma Family Will Profit From Ski Resorts In Counties Hit Hard By Opioids
Mitchell Yeaton is battling a wave of opioid addiction from his counseling center in New Hampshire ski country, just a short drive from two winter resorts that are engines of the local economy, Attitash and Wildcat. In this tourist mecca, jarring contrasts between well-to-do visitors and impoverished families shattered by addiction are part of the job, Yeaton said. But even so, a ski area deal unfolding here is rankling Yeaton and some other community leaders. Some members of the billionaire Sackler family — the owners of Purdue Pharma, the company widely blamed for fueling America’s opioid crisis — will reap about $60 million in financial gains from the sale of 17 ski resorts in the Northeast and Midwest, according to financial disclosure filings. (Rowland, 9/29)
