Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
By Revamping Device Therapy, Tech Companies See New Hope For Trimming Reliance On Opioids
Stat: Pain Therapy Of Last Resort Getting New Life Amid Opioid Crisis
Spurred by the opioid crisis, a once marginalized therapy that relies on electrical stimulation to treat chronic pain is undergoing a renaissance as device makers race to upgrade their products for a wider population of patients. The companies believe the therapy, known as neuromodulation, can reduce reliance on opioid painkillers, which laid the foundation for a spike in overdose deaths and led to a fierce debate over how best to treat patients with chronic pain. It is also seen as a significant business opportunity, with one research firm predicting that the market for neuromodulation will grow by 15 percent a year, to more than $16 billion by 2024. (Ross, 1/23)
WBUR: 2 Mass. Mayors Describe 'Eye-Opening' Visits To Canadian Clinics That Supervise Drug Use
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh toured clinics in Montreal and Toronto where people who use drugs are given clean needles, monitored while they consume and revived if they overdose. Cambridge Mayor Marc McGovern was also in Montreal, meeting with the city's mayor and chief of police. Both explained their surprising findings to WBUR's Bob Oakes. (Oaks and Bebinger, 1/23)
Austin American-Statesman: Texas Health Officials Unveil Website Aimed At Curbing Prescription Opioid Misuse
State health officials on Tuesday unveiled a new website they hope will help educate people about prescription opioid misuse and encourage patients to safely dispose of their unused medications so they don’t end up in the wrong hands, the latest in an effort by the state attorney general’s office to combat Texas’ growing opioid crisis. (Huber, 1/22)
Cincinnati Enquirer: Boost Access To Syringe Exchange To Curb Cincy HIV Spike, CDC Says
Federal health officials want their Cincinnati region counterparts to offer better access to syringe exchanges and other steps to close "missed opportunities" to bring a local surge in HIV cases linked to drug use under control. The increases in HIV, started in 2017 and were first brought to the public's attention in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky in January 2018. (DeMio, 1/22)
California Healthline: Doctors Call California’s Probe Of Opioid Deaths A ‘Witch Hunt’
The Medical Board of California has launched investigations into doctors who prescribed opioids to patients who, perhaps months or years later, fatally overdosed. The effort, dubbed “the Death Certificate Project,” has sparked a conflict with physicians in California and beyond, in part because the doctors being investigated did not necessarily write the prescriptions leading to a death. The project is one of a kind nationally, although a much more limited program is operated by North Carolina’s board. (Clark, 1/22)
