Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Cities On Front Lines Of Opioid Epidemics Balk At Trump Administration's Threats Over Safe-Injection Sites
The Washington Post: Cities Defiant After Justice Department’s Threat On ‘Supervised Injection Sites’
Cities seeking to open sites where illegal drug users are monitored to prevent overdoses responded defiantly Tuesday to a Justice Department threat to take “swift and aggressive action” against that approach to the nationwide opioid epidemic. Plans for those “supervised injection sites” — under consideration in San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York City, Seattle and elsewhere — collided with a stern Justice Department warning issued last week, threatening to create a standoff between federal and local authorities like the confrontation over “sanctuary cities.” (Bernstein and Zezima, 9/4)
KQED: S.F. Safe Injection Site Supporters Urge Gov. Brown To Sign Bill
San Francisco officials, as well as health care and substance abuse service professionals, are urging California Gov. Jerry Brown to sign a bill allowing the city to open the country's first supervised injection site for drug users. State Sen. Scott Wiener, co-author of Assembly Bill 186 --"controlled substances: overdose prevention program" -- said he's hopeful that the governor will sign it, because Brown believes in progressive alternatives to incarceration. (Veltman, 9/4)
Stat: California Closer To A Take-Back Law For Medicines And Needles
California appears poised to become the first state in the nation to adopt a take-back law that addresses prescription drugs and needles, a contentious issue that is slowly spreading across the country as local governments grapple with budget constraints caused by unwanted or unused medicines and the opioid crisis. And as in other states, manufacturers would have to underwrite the costs.In a vote last week, the California senate unanimously endorsed a bill that would require companies to finance the cost of collecting and disposing of medicines and sharps, as needles are sometimes called. The measure was sent to California Gov. Jerry Brown, who has until Sept. 30 to sign the bill. A spokesperson declined to say whether Brown will do so. (Silverman, 9/4)
CQ: Senate Prepares For Opioid Legislation Vote
Pressure is on the Senate to finalize and vote soon on a package that both parties are prioritizing to combat opioids addiction. But differences between the House and Senate versions could delay enactment. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has hinted at a possible vote as early as this week, saying that Republicans agree on the bill. (Raman, 9/5)
Kaiser Health News: Rudy Giuliani’s Consulting Firm Had Hand In Halting Florida’s Opioid Investigation
Six months after hiring former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani’s consulting firm, Purdue Pharma settled a Florida state investigation that had threatened to expose early illegal marketing of its blockbuster drug OxyContin, company and state records show. The November 2002 deal was a coup for the drugmaker, which at the time faced growing criticism about overdose deaths and addiction linked to the painkiller. Purdue agreed to pay the state $2 million to help fund a computer database to track narcotics prescriptions and up to $150,000 to sponsor five one-day conferences to educate law enforcement about drug abuse. (Schulte, 9/5)
Tampa Bay Times: Lawsuit Says Kratom Tea Caused Teen's Brain Damage
For four years, Mary Tabar said, her 19-year-old daughter Brette was a regular at three Pinellas County bars serving kratom tea. ... Now, Mary Tabar has filed a lawsuit in Pinellas County as her daughter’s guardian, alleging Brette Taber suffered frontal lobe damage to her brain after drinking the Southeast Asian herbal remedy. (Figueroa IV, 9/4)
