Foreign Investors See Opioid Epidemic As Pathway To Green Card
The EB-5 program allows foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in a development that creates jobs to qualify for U.S. visas, and those investors are turning keen eyes toward substance abuse and mental health facilities -- a marketplace that is booming because of the crisis sweeping the country.
The Boston Globe:
In US Opioid Crisis, Green Card Seekers See Opportunity
Foreign investors looking to land a coveted US green card have financed luxury apartments in the up-and-coming Fenway, hotels in Manhattan, ski resorts in Vermont, and Miami’s version of the Eiffel Tower. Now, they are increasingly pouring their money into a less glitzy but thriving industry: drug rehabilitation and psychiatric clinics. (Fernandes, 5/2)
In other news, North Carolina lawmakers hold a hearing about physicians prescribing naloxone, a study finds another cost of the opioid epidemic, and the latest overdose numbers in Massachusetts show the crisis isn't slowing —
The Associated Press:
Statewide Order To Prescribe Anti-Overdose Injection Weighed
An injection that can stop fatal overdoses of heroin or OxyContin could become more readily available in North Carolina. State health officials want a statewide standing order for physicians to prescribe naloxone (na-LOCK-sewn) for an opioid overdose in an emergency. The Senate Health Care Committee scheduled a hearing Tuesday on legislation for the state health director to set the order. (5/2)
Kaiser Health News:
Opioid Epidemic Fueling Hospitalizations, Hospital Costs
Every day, headlines detail the casualties of the nation’s surge in heroin and prescription painkiller abuse: the funerals, the broken families and the patients cycling in and out of treatment. Now, a new study sheds light on another repercussion -- how this public health problem is adding to the nation’s ballooning health care costs and who’s shouldering that burden. The research comes as policymakers grapple with how to curb the increased abuse of these drugs, known as opioids. State legislators in New York, Connecticut, Alaska and Pennsylvania have tried to take action by adding new resources to boost prevention and treatment. In addition, President Barack Obama laid out strategies last month intended to improve how the health system deals with addiction. (Luthra, 5/2)
WBUR:
Sudders, Bharel Discuss Release Of 2015 Opioid Death Numbers
There is still no sign that Massachusetts’ opioid epidemic is slowing. New numbers released Monday show that 1,379 people died from unintentional opioid overdoses in the state in 2015. And that number is expected to top 1,500 once all death investigations are complete. (Becker, 5/2)
