Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
America Was Saturated With 76 Billion Pain Pills For Half A Decade As The Opioid Epidemic Spun Out Of Control
The Washington Post: Largest U.S. Drug Companies Flooded Country With 76 Billion Opioid Pills, DEA Data Shows
America’s largest drug companies saturated the country with 76 billion oxycodone and hydrocodone pain pills from 2006 through 2012 as the nation’s deadliest drug epidemic spun out of control, according to previously undisclosed company data released as part of the largest civil action in U.S. history. The information comes from a database maintained by the Drug Enforcement Administration that tracks the path of every single pain pill sold in the United States — from manufacturers and distributors to pharmacies in every town and city. The data provides an unprecedented look at the surge of legal pain pills that fueled the prescription opioid epidemic, which has resulted in nearly 100,000 deaths from 2006 through 2012. (Higham, Horwitz and Rich, 7/16)
The Washington Post: Companies Respond To DEA Opioid Sales Data
A yearlong legal battle waged by The Washington Post and HD Media, publisher of the Charleston Gazette-Mail in West Virginia, resulted in a ruling Monday releasing government data tracking sales of billions of opioid pills in the U.S. from 2006 to 2012. The data in the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Drug Automation of Reports and Consolidated Order System, known as ARCOS, reveals what each company knew about the number of pills it was shipping and dispensing and precisely when they were aware of those volumes, year-by-year, town-by-town. (Davis and Abelson, 7/16)
The Washington Post: Takeaways From The DEA's ARCOS Database
Just six companies distributed 75 percent of the pills — oxycodone and hydrocodone — during this period: McKesson Corp., Walgreens, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, CVS and Walmart, according to an analysis of the database by The Washington Post. Three companies manufactured about 88 percent of the opioids: SpecGx, a subsidiary of Mallinckrodt; Actavis Pharma; and Par Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Endo Pharmaceuticals. (7/16)
The Associated Press: Federal Data Shows Opioid Shipments Ballooned As Crisis Grew
While OxyContin is the best-known prescription opioid, the Post analysis shows that Purdue accounted for just 3% of pills sold during that time. Three makers of generic drugs accounted for nearly 90% of the sales. The data tracks a dozen different opioids, including oxycodone and hydrocodone, according to the Post. They account for most of the pill shipments to pharmacies. (Gillispie, 7/17)
NPR: Opioid Distribution And Sales Data Release Sheds Light On Opioid Prescribing
"I don't think America truly understands the scope and depth, the level of penetration these pills had in their communities," says Paul Farrell with the firm Greene, Ketchum, Farrell, Bailey & Tweel. "It's going to be an awakening." Farrell is one of three co-lead attorneys suing the pharmaceutical industry as part of the largest consolidated civil lawsuit related to drug industry's role in the opioid epidemic in the U.S., scheduled to go to trial in October. (Mann, 7/16)
