Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Despite Rampant Warning Signs Of Abuse, Drug Companies And DEA Failed To Stem Flood Of Opioids Into West Virginia
The Washington Post: Congressional Report: Drug Companies, DEA, Failed To Stop Flow Of Millions Of Opioid Pills
The distributors of powerful prescription opioids and the Drug Enforcement Administration failed to stop the flow of millions of pills into rural West Virginia despite rampant warning signs that the pills were being diverted for abuse, inertia that contributed to the nation’s opioid epidemic, a congressional report has found. A report from the majority staff of the House Energy and Commerce Committee found that distributors, which fulfill orders for prescription drugs to pharmacies, failed to conduct proper oversight of their customers by not questioning suspicious activity and not properly monitoring the quantity of painkillers that were being shipped to individual pharmacies. (Zezima, 12/19)
The Washington Post: FDA Panel Backs Prescribing Opioid Antidote Alongside Painkillers
Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended Tuesday that labels on prescription opioids urge doctors to simultaneously prescribe the overdose antidote naloxone for at least some of their patients. Several members of two advisory committees, which met jointly, described their 12-to-11 vote as a message to the government that the fast-acting antidote must be made more widely available, at lower cost and with fewer barriers to obtaining it. (Bernstein, 12/18)
Kaiser Health News: Hep C And Drug Abuse Often Go Hand In Hand, But Screening For Infection Lags
When people seek help at a drug treatment center for an opioid addiction, concerns about having contracted hepatitis C are generally low on their list. They’ve often reached a crisis point in their lives, said Marie Sutton, the CEO of Imagine Hope, a consulting group that provides staff training and technical assistance to facilitate testing for the liver-damaging virus at more than 30 drug treatment centers in Georgia. (Andrews, 12/19)
San Francisco Chronicle: SF Sues Drug Companies Over Marketing Of Addictive Painkillers
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday accusing Purdue Pharma and other pharmaceutical companies of fueling the nation’s epidemic of opioid addiction by deliberately misleading doctors and the public about the dangers of powerful painkillers. In a complaint running more than 160 pages, Herrera’s office alleges that Purdue, which makes OxyContin, and the drugmakers Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Endo Pharmaceuticals, Cephalon, Insys Therapeutics, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals and Actavis, aggressively marketed addictive opioid painkillers to treat chronic pain knowing they had a high potential for abuse. (Fracassa, 12/18)
Boston Globe: Fed Up With Stepping Over Needles To Walk To School, Students Stage A Protest
The students of the Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School in Roxbury wanted to send a message that they had had enough: enough of the dirty syringes that surround their school and playgrounds, and enough of official indifference to their safety. So they gathered at the corner of Melnea Cass Boulevard and Albany Street — along with their parents, many of their teachers, and some community activists — and held a protest. (Walker, 12/19)
Seattle Times: Inslee Proposes $30M In Budget To Address Opioid Crisis In Washington
Gov. Jay Inslee proposed the state spend $30 million to help combat the opioid epidemic by creating new programs and complementing actions already underway across the state. The money, included in his proposed $54.4 billion budget, would be directed toward treatment and prevention of opioid-use disorder. Under the umbrella of treatment, programs ranging from peer support to residential programs for women would get funds. (Blethen, 12/18)
The Associated Press: California Doctor Accused Of Prescribing Drugs In 5 Deaths
A Southern California doctor was arrested Tuesday on charges of doling out drugs to patients he didn’t examine and is alleged to have prescribed drugs to five people who died of overdoses as well as an impaired driver who struck and killed a bicyclist, federal prosecutors said. Dr. Dzung Ahn Pham, 57, faces charges of illegally distributing powerful opioids and prosecutors said he prescribed drugs to addicts or people selling them on the street. He prescribed some drugs after receiving text messages requesting specific quantities and doses, prosecutors said. (Melley, 12/18)
