Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Advocates Worry Trump Will Use Drop In Opioid Deaths As Winning Talking Point When Reality Is More Nuanced
Stat: As Trump Claims Credit For Decline In Opioid Deaths, Others See Signs Of Danger Ahead
Ahead of a 2020 race already focused on health care, President Trump is boasting that his administration played a huge role in achieving the first annual drop in overdose deaths in three decades. The drop, he crowed recently, is “tremendous.” But behind the scenes, his administration’s efforts to address the opioid crisis are increasingly contentious. Two federal agencies are feuding over how to classify certain drugs too dangerous for public consumption. And in the two-plus years since his inauguration, his White House has yet to nominate a leader for the Drug Enforcement Administration. (Facher, 7/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Philadelphia Safe-Injection Site Draws Supporters In Court
Authorities from seven states, the District of Columbia and some major U.S. cities are backing a Philadelphia effort to open a supervised drug-injection site, which the federal government is trying to stop in court. Safehouse, a nonprofit in Philadelphia, seeks to open a site where people can use drugs in a safe and sanitary environment with help to avoid overdose fatalities. Federal prosecutors sued the nonprofit in February, arguing it would violate federal law by creating a place for people to use illegal drugs such as heroin and bootleg fentanyl. (Kamp, 7/11)
NPR: Dozen Local Leaders Ask U.S. Court To OK Injection Site For Opioid Users
Top officials from 13 states are joining Philadelphia in urging a federal court to allow a site to open where people can inject illegal opioids under medical supervision, the latest escalation in a legal battle with the Justice Department that may determine whether such facilities, known as supervised injection sites, can start to operate in America. In Philadelphia, where drug overdoses — most involving opioids — kill three times as many people as homicides, a nonprofit called Safehouse has been working to launch an injection site as a way of combating the city's opioid crisis. (Allyn, 7/11)
And in other news on the epidemic —
Stat: Fewer Opioid Prescriptions Being Written For Medicare Part D
As the U.S. grapples with an ongoing opioid crisis, a new federal government report finds that efforts to rethink physician prescribing practices and provide treatments for people who have abused opioids appear to be working. In 2018, nearly 3 in 10 beneficiaries received at least one prescription opioid through Medicare Part D. Specifically, 29% of beneficiaries, or 13.4 million of the 46.8 million people enrolled in the program, received opioids. (Silverman, 7/11)
Reuters: Lawmakers Seek Scientific Review Of Plan To Tightly Regulate All Fentanyl Copycats
Lawmakers on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee have urged the Trump administration to conduct a scientific review of a Justice Department-backed bill to classify all illicit chemical knockoffs of the potent painkiller fentanyl in the same legal category as heroin. The sweeping legislation may "deter valid, critical medical research aimed at responses to the opioid crisis," the senators said in a July 10 letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar seen by Reuters on Thursday. (Lynch, 7/11)
The Baltimore Sun: Opioid Overdoses, Fatalities For Anne Arundel Continue Decrease Through June
The number of opioid overdoses in the county have continued to decrease with a 25% decline in comparison to 2018. Since the start of 2019 until June 25, 433 overdoses — with 71 fatalities — have occurred with majority of the incidents taking place in the northern part of the county, according to a report by the Anne Arundel Police and the county health department. (Harris, 7/12)
Health News Florida: Drug Deaths In Florida Down In First Half Of 2018
The number of drug-related deaths in Florida, including those caused by opioids, declined in the first six months of 2018, compared to the first half of 2017, according to an interim report released by the state Medical Examiners Commission. There were 107,570 deaths in Florida during the first six months of 2018. Of the cases reviewed by the state’s medical examiners, toxicology results determined that 5,922 cases involved drugs. (Sexton, 7/11)
The Oregonian: Happy Valley Man Who Trafficked In Counterfeit Oxycodone Laced With Fentanyl Sent To Federal Prison
A Happy Valley man who distributed counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl was sentenced Thursday to four years and nine months in federal prison. Johnell Lee Cleveland, 37, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of controlled substance, possession of an unregistered firearm and two counts of money laundering. (Bernstein, 7/11)
