Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Justice To Target Opioid Treatment Programs Exploiting Affordable Care Act Insurance Plans
Bloomberg: Sessions Said To Unveil Health-Care Fraud Crackdown This Week
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is poised to announce a major law enforcement action this week targeting health-care fraud, focusing on opioid treatment programs exploiting Obamacare insurance plans, according to two people familiar with the matter. In what is described as a nationwide sweep with hundreds of arrests being carried out across the U.S., the Justice Department is cracking down on fraudulent claims made to some of the nation’s biggest insurers, said one of the people. People who run drug addiction treatment centers that have filed bogus claims and those who have filed reimbursement claims for drugs they then sell illegally are among those to be charged, the person said. (Smith, Edney and Schoenberg, 7/12)
The Washington Post: Justice Department Reaches First Settlement With Opioid Manufacturer
The Justice Department and Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals reached a $35 million settlement Tuesday to resolve allegations that the company failed to report signs that large quantities of its highly addictive oxycodone pills were diverted to the black market in Florida, where they helped stoke the opioid epidemic. (Bernstein and Higham, 7/11)
And in other news on the opioid epidemic —
The Wall Street Journal: Ex-Insys Saleswomen Plead Guilty In Opioid Prescription Kickback Schemes
Two former pharmaceutical saleswomen pleaded guilty on Tuesday to bribing doctors in exchange for prescribing a powerful fentanyl medication made by Insys Therapeutics Inc., the drugmaker facing multiple investigations by state and federal prosecutors. (Walker, 7/11)
Chicago Tribune: Naperville Hospital Tackles Opioid Epidemic
Edward-Elmhurst Health System recently opened a new medication-assisted therapy clinic for those who want to kick opioid addiction, and the system plans to work with its affiliated health professionals to reduce the number of opioid prescriptions. While previously open for doctor referrals, the clinic at Edward-Elmhurst-affiliated Linden Oaks opened last week to anyone who wants to discontinue the use of heroin and prescription painkillers such as Norco, Oxycodone and Fentanyl. (Baker, 7/11)
Columbus Dispatch: More And More Ohio Drivers Are Impaired By Drugs
The answer to how often an Ohio driver’s blood or urine sample tested positive for fentanyl used to be “never,” says a crime lab chief at the State Highway Patrol. But over the past three months, the powerful synthetic opioid — 50 times stronger than morphine and often mixed with heroin — has been detected in about 1 in 20 patrol tests. (Price, 7/12)
