Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
After GAO Report On Opioids And Infants, Advocates Say States Are Sending Distress Signals HHS Is Ignoring
Reuters: Exclusive: States Need U.S. Help To Protect Drug-Affected Infants-GAO
The federal government needs to take more steps to help states protect infants born affected by drugs such as opioids, the U.S. Government Accountability Office says in a new report released Wednesday. State agencies remain confused about a federal law requiring them to report drug-affected infants to child protective services - not to punish mothers but to help families and ensure the child’s safety, the GAO says. Thirty-eight states said more guidance would be “extremely to very helpful,” according to the report. (Wilson, 2/7)
NPR: Opioid Law Enforcement, Not Treatment, Is Trump's Priority
More than three months after President Trump declared the nation's opioid crisis a public health emergency, activists and healthcare providers say they're still waiting for some other action. The Trump administration quietly renewed the declaration recently. But it's given no signs it's developing a comprehensive strategy to address an epidemic that claims more than 115 lives every day. The President now says to combat opioids he's focused on enforcement, not treatment. (Allen, 2/7)
Media outlets report on news on the epidemic out of Maryland, Louisiana, Florida, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, New Hampshire and Ohio —
The Associated Press: County Sues 14 Opioid Drug Companies For Addiction Increase
A Maryland county has filed a lawsuit against 14 opioid manufacturers and distributors. The Washington Post reports the Montgomery County lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses the companies of deceptive marketing and failure to report suspicious sales, leading to “unprecedented” opioid addiction in the county. The lawsuit says prescription opioid overdose deaths increased from 27 in 2010 to 117 in 2016. (2/8)
New Orleans Times-Picayune: A Metairie Treatment Center Is Suing Walmart, Other Drug Sellers As Opioid Addiction Surges
Addiction Recovery Resources, a Metairie-based addiction treatment program, has filed a lawsuit against Walmart, Walgreens and 23 other drug makers and distributors it accuses of practices that worsened opioid abuse nationwide. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday (Feb. 6) in Orleans Parish Civil District Court, seeks damages related to "unreimbursed treatment costs and other employee losses related to the out-of-control opiate epidemic," said attorney Lawrence Centola of Martzell, Bickford and Centola in New Orleans. (Clark, 2/7)
Orlando Sentinel: Osceola Joins National Opioid Legal Action Against Drug Companies
Osceola County has signed on to a national legal movement aimed at holding more than two dozen major drugmakers and distributors responsible for America’s opioid crisis. The first Florida county to file a lawsuit against the companies, Osceola is seeking unspecified damages to pay for rising Medicaid, foster-care and law-enforcement costs associated with the epidemic. (Gillespie, 2/7)
The Washington Post: Experts Call For More Resources In Fighting Opioid Epidemic
An average of 19 people a week overdosed on opioids in Richmond last year, and government agencies and other entities have responded to the crisis in a variety of ways, from dispensing overdose reversal drugs to arresting addicts. Academic and law-enforcement experts discussed the problem and possible solutions Tuesday in a panel discussion titled “The Opioid Epidemic: Impact on Communities” at Virginia Commonwealth University. (Belletti, 2/7)
Georgia Health News: Georgia Senate Approves Bills On Opioid Epidemic, Health Council
Sen. Renee Unterman, a Buford Republican, made the remarks after the Senate unanimously approved a bill that would establish a Georgia director of substance abuse, addiction and related disorders and create a commission to address the crisis of addiction and substance abuse. The bill, though, did not have funding attached to it. (Miller, 2/7)
WBUR: Alabama Targets OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma In Opioid Suit
Alabama filed a lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday against OxyContin producer Purdue Pharma LP claiming the drug company is fueling the opioid epidemic by deceptively marketing prescription painkillers. The state alleges that Purdue failed to accurately portray the risks and benefits of opioids, which enabled doctors to widely prescribe them in the treatment of pain. (Raphelson, 2/7)
The Washington Post: Judge Suggests Drug-Addicted Woman Get Sterilized Before Sentencing, And She Does
In her 34 years, Summer Thyme Creel has passed a lot of bad checks, taken a lot of drugs and borne a lot of children (seven). After her sentencing today in federal court in Oklahoma, her involvement with checks and drugs will stop at least temporarily, but she will never have another baby. That’s because the judge in her case suggested, in writing, that Creel consider getting herself sterilized before the sentencing, and Creel proceeded to do just that. (Jackman, 2/8)
New Hampshire Public Radio: Manchester's Now Driving People To Substance Abuse Treatment Through...An App
Manchester’s Safe Station Program is exploring a novel way to transport people to local substance abuse providers -- by using the ride-sharing app Lyft. Safe Stations allows anyone to walk into a city firehouse and be taken to an addiction treatment provider, no questions asked. (Sutherland, 2/7)
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cost Of Methadone Skyrockets Leaving Local Treatment Center To Scramble For Funding
Hundreds of Cleveland-area patients being treated with methadone for drug addiction are seeing the cost of their daily dosage skyrocket from $1 to more than $14. Community Action Against Addiction (CAAA), one of two nonprofit suppliers of the drug in the region, told cleveland.com on this week that the abrupt price hike is the result of a loss of funding. (Cain, 2/7)
