Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In Effort To Curb Opioid Overdose Pandemic, One Boston Clinic Takes Unconventional Approach
The Boston Globe: Overwhelmed By Overdoses, Clinic Offers A Room For Highs
Alarm over the rocketing fatality rate, and the need to better manage staffing disruptions from all those overdoses, has led Boston Health Care for the Homeless to adopt an unorthodox and controversial plan: On Tuesday, it will open a room where drug users can ride out their highs under medical supervision, with the aim of preventing deaths. (Pfeiffer, 4/26)
See KHN's past coverage of the clinic's plan: Boston’s Heroin Users Will Soon Get A Safer Place To Be High
And in other news —
STAT: Chinese Labs Modify Deadly Fetanyl To Circumvent Ban On Sales In U.S.
Chinese laboratories are producing and openly selling a new form of deadly fentanyl to get around China’s recent export ban on the synthetic drug causing thousands of overdose deaths across the United States. The slightly tweaked version of fentanyl — called furanyl fentanyl — is so new that it is not on the US government’s list of controlled substances. That means the altered fentanyl, which was blamed for the March overdose of an Illinois man, is technically legal for drug dealers to sell. (Armstrong, 4/26)
The Connecticut Mirror: House Passes ‘Comprehensive’ Opioid Bill
After a floor debate laced with stories of the toll drug addiction has taken across Connecticut, the House on Monday unanimously passed what legislators described as a comprehensive measure aimed at curbing the epidemic of opioid and heroin abuse. (Levin Becker, 4/25)
