As Opioid Overdoses Spike, Experts Worry Shut Down Is Undoing Years Of Effort Against Epidemic
“How many more lives are we willing to sacrifice in the name of containing the virus?” said Elinore McCance-Katz, the Department of Health and Human Services assistant secretary for mental health and substance use. “We’ve worked so hard in states and communities across this country to combat epidemics like the opioids crisis. Why are we willing to forget those efforts now or deem them less important?”
Roll Call:
Drug Overdoses Climb During COVID-19 Pandemic
Drug overdoses have risen in some areas during the COVID-19 pandemic, less than a year after the Trump administration touted decreases in the nation’s overdose epidemic. From Memphis to Milwaukee, a range of cities and counties across the country are reporting spikes in fatal and nonfatal overdoses. Last year, Trump administration officials highlighted progress toward curbing the U.S. overdose crisis of the last decade. (Raman, 5/27)
NPR:
Federal Government Approves Methadone Deliveries During Pandemic
New York City launched a methadone delivery program last month so that patients won't have to leave home during the pandemic to get their next dose. Methadone, a highly regulated medication for opioid addiction, has to be taken every day, otherwise patients risk a painful withdrawal. Normally, methadone has to be picked up from a treatment center. But now, the federal government says patients in quarantine can get their methadone delivered to them, if they follow security protocols. (Reingold, 5/27)
In other news on the opioid crisis —
The New York Times:
Big Pharmacy Chains Also Fed The Opioid Epidemic, Court Filing Says
Through years of lawsuits and rising public anger over the opioid epidemic, the big American pharmacy retailers have largely eluded scrutiny. But a new court filing Wednesday morning asserts that pharmacies including CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens and Giant Eagle as well as those operated by Walmart were as complicit in perpetuating the crisis as the manufacturers and distributors of the addictive drugs. The retailers sold millions of pills in tiny communities, offered bonuses for high-volume pharmacists and even worked directly with drug manufacturers to promote opioids as safe and effective, according to the complaint filed in federal court in Cleveland by two Ohio counties. (Hoffman, 5/27)
