In Midst Of Opioid Crisis, Experts Are Desperately Seeking Alternatives To Manage Pain. But Insurers Aren’t Paying For Them.
Federal and state lawmakers, doctors, advocates and other leaders and experts are all taking steps to curb the epidemic. But there are still about 25 million Americans living with chronic pain, and a “stunning” variation in what treatment alternatives insurers will cover. In other news on the crisis: lawmakers question why the FDA gave the OK to a powerful intravenous painkiller; a drug distributor is sent a warning letter over its failure to flag suspicious activity; a hospital tightens its regulations following overdose deaths; and more.
Politico:
Health Plans Don’t Want Patients On Opioids. So What Are They Doing For Pain?
The national effort to curb the opioid crisis faces another big potential obstacle — insurers who won’t pay for less-addictive ways to control patients’ pain. Patients seeking other pain treatment options often find that their insurers won’t foot the bill or are forcing them to jump through maddening hoops to get coverage. Experts in and out of government worry that this will make it more difficult to reverse the deadly opioid crisis that killed more than 47,000 people nationwide in 2017, even as doctors cut back on opioid prescribing and state and federal governments step up efforts to prevent and treat addiction. (Demko, 2/12)
Stat:
Lawmakers Want FDA To Explain Why It Approved Painkiller Dsuvia
A pair of Democratic lawmakers is asking the Food and Drug Administration to provide documents that would explain its decision last fall to approve Dsuvia, a tablet version of a decades-old intravenous painkiller that is up to 10 times more potent than the highly addictive fentanyl. The agency greenlighted its use amid controversy that alternatives exist and that such a powerful opioid could easily be abused by being diverted, despite a prohibition on retail pharmacy sales. But as noted previously, the endorsement was championed by the military, which maintained that such a medicine is needed in combat zones. (Silverman, 2/12)
The Wall Street Journal:
FDA Warns McKesson To Properly Account For Opioid Violations
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent a warning letter Tuesday to McKesson Corp. that said the company had failed to put adequate systems in place to properly flag illegitimate opioid medications and suspicious drug activity in its distribution network. The FDA said the specific violations by the pharmaceutical distribution company included the failure to properly respond to illegitimate product notifications and not quarantine and investigate suspect product. (Chin, 2/12)
CQ:
FDA Commissioner Outlines New Opioid Enforcement Action
The Food and Drug Administration released a warning letter to a top drug distributor on Tuesday, using for the first time a new type of enforcement authority that the agency’s head called an important step in controlling the illegal flow of opioids. FDA's letter alleged that distributor McKesson Corp. sent drugs that were supposed to be opioids — but were missing pills or were not even opioids — to multiple pharmacy locations, raising questions about whether potent opioid painkillers were missing and where they may have gone. (Raman, 2/12)
Politico Pro:
China Holds The Fentanyl Card In Trade Talks With Trump
President Donald Trump hopes trade negotiations between the two countries will not only level the playing field for American firms and reduce the U.S. trade deficit, but also cut off the main source of fentanyl shipments entering the United States. By throwing fentanyl into the mix, however, Trump has added a painful statistic — annual opioid-related deaths in the U.S. — to the question of whether he was successful in his push for a trade deal to stop what he considers to be Beijing's siphoning of American riches. (Palmer, 2/12)
The Associated Press:
Hospital Tightens Drug Access, Rules After Excessive Dosages
The Ohio hospital system that found a doctor ordered possibly fatal doses of powerful painkillers for dozens of patients has tightened policies and drug access to address problems in pharmaceutical services that jeopardized Medicare participation for two hospitals, according to corrective plans submitted to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The changes outlined for Mount Carmel West hospital in Columbus and Mount Carmel St. Ann's in suburban Westerville included further limiting when and how such medication can be accessed from an automated dispensing system using emergency orders outside of the usual protocols. (2/12)
Columbus Dispatch:
Reports Show Former Mount Carmel Doctor Overrode Warnings, Pharmacy Approvals
A review by the Ohio Department of Health of records for 27 patients shows that in 24 cases a Mount Carmel West hospital doctor was able to access high doses of powerful pain medications by using overrides to get past warnings and, in most cases, pharmacist pre-approvals. The findings are outlined in a plan of correction that Mount Carmel Health System prepared for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services following the state’s January inspections at Mount Carmel West in Franklinton and Mount Carmel St. Ann’s hospital in Westerville. (Viviano, 2/12)
NPR:
'Never Enough' Explains The Biology Of The Addicted Brain
Growing up, neuroscientist Judith Grisel would take little sips of alcohol at family events, but it wasn't until she was 13 that she experienced being drunk for the first time. Everything changed. "It was so complete and so profound," she says. "I suddenly felt less anxious, less insecure, less inept to cope with the world. Suddenly I was full and OK in a way that I had never been." Grisel began chasing that feeling. Over the years, she struggled with alcohol, marijuana and cocaine. But along the way, she also became interested in the neuroscience of addiction. (Gross, 2/12)
