Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Already At A Higher Risk For Addiction, Patients With Mental Disorders Get Bulk Of Opioid Prescriptions
The Washington Post: Greater Opioid Use And Mental Health Disorders Are Linked In A New Study
A new study suggests that people with anxiety and depression are consuming a disproportionate share of prescription painkillers, a finding that could add a new wrinkle to the epidemic of opioid use in the United States. Researchers at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and the University of Michigan found that nearly 19 percent of the estimated 38.6 million people with those two most common mental health disorders received at least two prescriptions for opioids during a year. And more than half the prescriptions for the powerful, highly addictive painkillers went to individuals in that group, the researchers asserted. (Bernstein, 6/26)
Kaiser Health News: Patients With Mental Disorders Get Half Of All Opioid Prescriptions
Adults with a mental illness receive more than 50 percent of the 115 million opioid prescriptions in the United States annually, according to a study released Monday. The results prompted researchers to suggest that improving pain management for people with mental health problems “is critical to reduce national dependency on opioids.” People with mental health disorders represent 16 percent of the U.S. population. (Connor, 6/26)
New Hampshire Public Radio: Despite Risks, High Rate Of Opioid Prescriptions For People With Mental Health Conditions
“More than half of all prescriptions being prescribed in the United States are going to patients with mental health disorders, and the reason why this is so striking is because adults with mental health disorders only represent 16% of the population,” explains Dr. Brian Sites, who co-authored the paper being published next month in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. “So there is a big discrepancy.” (Bookman, 6/26)
Stat: 51 Percent Of Opioid Prescriptions Go To People With Depression And Anxiety
“If you want to come up with social policy to address the need to decrease our out-of-control opioid prescribing, this would be the population you want to study, because they’re getting the bulk of the opioids, and then they are known to be at higher risk for the bad stuff,” he said. (Caruso, 6/26)
In other news —
Stat: OxyContin Maker Urges Judges To Stop Release Of Secret Marketing Records
A state appeals court Monday heard arguments over whether secret records regarding the marketing of the powerful prescription opioid OxyContin should be released to the public. A three-judge panel of the Kentucky Court of Appeals is considering a request from OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to overturn a lower court ruling ordering the release of the documents — the result of a motion filed by STAT. The records include a deposition of Dr. Richard Sackler, a former president of Purdue and a member of the family that owns the privately held Connecticut company. (Armstrong, 6/26)
The Associated Press: US Does Not Need Warrant To Subpoena Oregon Drug Data
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency does not need a court order to subpoena a prescription drug database kept by the state of Oregon, but the ruling did not specify whether those subpoenas would violate constitutional protections. The ruling reverses a 2014 judge's ruling finding that the agency must obtain warrants to access the database, which Oregon uses to help healthcare providers identify abuse. (6/26)
Arizona Republic: Arizona Had 191 Opioid Overdoses, 15 Deaths Last Week
Fifteen opioid-suspected deaths were recorded last week in Arizona, the state Department of Health Services said Monday. Those deaths were among the 191 opioid overdose cases overall recorded from June 15-22, the agency said, further highlighting a problem that has drawn national attention in the past year. (Destin, 6/26)
