Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Former Obama Drug Czar Named To Lead Addiction Research Center In Boston
Boston Globe: Boston Medical Center Picks Ex-Obama Drug Czar To Run Opioid Center
The nation’s former drug czar is bringing his expertise back to Massachusetts. Michael Botticelli, a recovering addict who rose to become director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, will head Boston Medical Center’s new Grayken Center for Addiction Medicine, which aims to become a national leader in fighting opioid abuse. (Pfeiffer, 3/22)
WBUR: Former White House Drug Czar To Lead Addiction Medicine Center In Boston
The center was formally established earlier this month with a $25 million private gift from the Grayken family to be used to improve addiction treatment, prevention and training in addiction medicine. In an interview, Botticelli said he's eager to come back to Massachusetts. He worked for the state Department of Public Health for decades until 2012. He later was named director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under the Obama administration. (Becker, 3/22)
In other news on the crisis —
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Mayor's Opioid Task Force Sees Huge Obstacles To Safe-Injection Sites In Philly
The idea of opening special facilities where heroin users could inject drugs safely in Philadelphia was panned Wednesday by numerous members of Mayor Kenney’s opioid task force. The 20-member group met for the final time to review and refine the 20 recommendations it will submit to help combat opioid abuse and addiction in the city, which had 910 fatal drug overdoses last year. But the bulk of the two-hour meeting was spent on the controversial concept of reducing that death toll by creating injection sites that are medically supervised. (McCullough, 3/22)
The Associated Press: Some Of The Youngest Opioid Victims Are Curious Toddlers
Curious toddlers find the drugs in a mother's purse or accidentally dropped on the floor. Sometimes a parent fails to secure the child-resistant cap on a bottle of painkillers. No matter how it happens, if a 35-pound toddler grabs just one opioid pill, chews it and releases the full concentration of a time-released adult drug into their small bodies, death can come swiftly. (Ehlke, 3/23)
