Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Administration Emphasizes Need To Focus On Keeping Opioids From Entering Country Illegally
CQ: Senate Drug Caucus Examines Ways To Stop Illegal Opioid Imports
Administration officials emphasized at a bipartisan caucus hearing Tuesday the importance of ramping up efforts to restrict synthetic opioids and strengthen international partnerships to prevent the drug from illegally entering the country. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, was involved in 60 percent of opioid overdose deaths last year, rising from 14 percent in 2010. The drug is now involved in more overdose deaths than prescription opioids or heroin. Both the Drug Enforcement Administration and State Department have stated that most of the fentanyl imported to the U.S. comes from China. (Raman, 10/2)
The Associated Press: San Francisco Mayor Weighs Drug Injection Site, Despite Veto
Driven in part by family tragedy, San Francisco Mayor London Breed has repeatedly pledged to open what could be the first supervised drug injection site in the country. However, California Gov. Jerry Brown made the promise tougher to keep when he vetoed legislation over the weekend that would have given San Francisco some legal cover to open a site under a pilot program. (10/2)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Health Insurers Are Making It Harder For Addicts To Get Treatment
Gov. Scott Walker has signed about 30 laws designed to address Wisconsin's opioid crisis as part of the Heroin, Opiate Prevention and Education (HOPE) Agenda. These include initiatives to give immunity to people who contact authorities to help someone suffering an overdose, the development of a robust prescription drug monitoring program and increased state reimbursement for outpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatment. Even so, Milwaukee County’s drug overdose rate was almost triple its homicide rate last year, which argues for continuing to aggressively fight this horrible scourge. (Kurter, 10/2)
Kaiser Health News: VA Adding Opioid Antidote To Defibrillator Cabinets For Quicker Overdose Response
It took more than 10 minutes for paramedics to arrive after a housekeeper found a man collapsed on the floor of a bathroom in a Boston Veteran Affairs building. The paramedics immediately administered naloxone, often known by its brand name Narcan, to successfully reverse the man’s opioid overdose. But it takes only a few minutes without oxygen for brain damage to begin. (Bebinger, 10/3)
St. Louis Public Radio: St. Louis Drug-Overdose Victims To Hear From More Recovering Users
For two years, the Engaging Patients in Care Coordination project has enlisted peer-recovery coaches from participating treatment centers to area ERs to meet with people who have overdosed on opioids. Starting this month, the project will send the coaches — themselves in recovery — to meet with overdose victims who refused to go to the ER. (Fentem, 10.3)
