Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
DEA's Failed Attempt To Hold Drugmaker Accountable For Opioid Crisis Shows Just How Difficult It Is
The Washington Post: This Company’s Drugs Helped Fuel Florida’s Opioid Crisis. But The Government Struggled To Hold Them Accountable.
To combat an escalating opioid epidemic, the Drug Enforcement Administration trained its sights in 2011 on Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of the highly addictive generic painkiller oxycodone. It was the first time the DEA had targeted a manufacturer of opioids for alleged violations of laws designed to prevent diversion of legal narcotics to the black market. And it would become the largest prescription-drug case the agency has pursued. (Bernstein and Higham, 4/2)
The Wall Street Journal: Drug Czar’s Letter To Congress Highlights Fentanyl Crisis
The potent opioid fentanyl, which is worsening a deadly U.S. drug epidemic, is pouring into the country from an array of sources and presenting law enforcement with complex challenges, according to new information from the nation’s drug czar. A detailed letter to U.S. House lawmakers, responding to a request from the Energy and Commerce Committee, laid out many details about how authorities believe traffickers are moving and selling fentanyl. The drug czar’s office acknowledged available data don’t capture the full scope of the fentanyl crisis, yet still underscore an overwhelming problem. (Kamp and Campo-Flores, 3/31)
The Washington Post: States Begin To Use Schools To Fight Opioid Abuse
Michigan lawmakers are considering requiring mandatory opioid abuse education in public schools as part of a package of bills aimed at combating the addiction and overdose epidemic in the state. The proposal is similar to action taken in Ohio to provide K-12 students with instruction on the dangers of prescription opioid use. If the bill passes, the program would be implemented by the 2018 school year by the Michigan Department of Education. Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and South Carolina are considering similar bills. (Wiltz, 4/1)
And in other news on the crisis —
The Fiscal Times: The Billion Dollar Drug For Opioid Victims Has A Problem: It’s Addictive
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s executive order earlier this month, declaring the state’s opioid addiction crisis a state of emergency, is yet another example of the state’s leadership in addressing a crisis. In the realm of medical treatments, Maryland took bold action last year to reduce access to the opioid treatment drug, Suboxone, which has become a dangerous drug on the streets and in prisons. (Yarrow, 3/31)
Minnesota Public Radio: A Killer Opioid's Dark Pathway To Minnesota
Just two salt-sized specs of it can kill. It's 10,000 times more potent than morphine, and 2 milligrams of it can stop a one-ton elephant in its tracks. Now, carfentanil is being blamed for five overdose deaths in Minnesota. (Nelson and Crann, 3/31)
WBUR: Public Bathrooms Become Ground Zero In The Opioid Epidemic
A man named Eddie threads through the mid-afternoon crowd in Cambridge's Central Square. He's headed for a sandwich shop, the first stop on a tour of public bathrooms available for drug use. Eddie, whose last name we're not including because he uses illegal drugs, knows which restrooms on Mass. Ave. he can enter, on what terms, at what hours and for how long. (Bebinger, 4/3)
