Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Mallinckrodt Bankruptcy Plan Approved, Cutting $1 Billion In Opioid Payouts
Reuters: Court OKs Mallinckrodt Restructuring, $1 Billion Cut To Opioid Settlement
Drugmaker Mallinckrodt on Tuesday won court approval for a bankruptcy plan that cuts $1 billion from what it must pay opioid crisis victims, cancels existing equity shares, and trims nearly $2 billion in other debt. The Ireland-based company reached a relatively swift conclusion to its second Chapter 11, which began on Aug. 28, just 14 months after its previous bankruptcy concluded. (Knauth, 10/10)
The Wall Street Journal: Mallinckrodt Bankruptcy Plan Gets Approval, Will Wipe Out $1 Billion In Opioid Payments
This is a setback to governments and individual addicts who filed lawsuits seeking compensation from drugmakers for their role in the opioid crisis. The legal fight stretches back nearly a decade, when more than 3,000 lawsuits from states, Native American tribes and counties alleged the drugmakers, pharmacies and distributors played down the risk of painkillers and didn’t stem their flow. A few opioid manufacturers that lacked the funds to settle those thousands of lawsuits turned to bankruptcy to try to resolve them. (Saeedy, 10/10)
In news about overdose-reversal drugs —
Axios Washington D.C.: Narcan Vending Machines In DC Help Prevent Opioid Overdoses
D.C.'s harm-reduction vending machines have pumped out at least 2,800 distributions of Narcan, Fentanyl tests, and other protective items since a pilot program launched last spring. With opioid overdoses at an all-time high, more communities are investing in innovative and low-cost intervention efforts — like vending machines stocked with free medical supplies — to help save lives. (Spiegel, 10/10)
KFF Health News: Narcan, Now Available Without A Prescription, Can Still Be Hard To Get
Last month, drugstores and pharmacies nationwide began stocking and selling the country’s first over-the-counter version of naloxone, a medication that can stop a potentially fatal overdose from opioids. It’s sold as a nasal spray under the brand name Narcan. Coming off a year with a record number of opioid-related overdose deaths in the United States — nearly 83,000 in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics — community health workers and addiction medicine experts were hopeful that the arrival of Narcan on retail shelves might make it easier for people to get the medication. (Fortier and Leonard, 10/11)
More on the opioid crisis —
MPR News: A Life Not Fully Lived: Federal Bill Aims To Prevent More Opioid Overdose Deaths
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar said more needs to be done to hold social media companies responsible when fentanyl or contaminated drugs are sold through their services. Anastasia Shevtsova's family said she lost her life after buying some pills on the social media app SnapChat. Later that night, Olga noticed the light shining out from under her daughter’s door. She knocked, then opened the door. She found her cold on her bed, with her face turning blue. (Collins, 10/10)
The Colorado Sun: Fentanyl Killed Their Kids At College. Now Schools Are Changing
The alert shared in Boulder a few weeks ago warned of a powdered form of fentanyl, its texture similar to drywall plaster, and its color pink or tan, like sand. Boulder law enforcement officers found it near a dead body. They told the county health department, which released the public health alert five days later. The University of Colorado posted the alert on its website and Facebook page the same day, warning students to beware of the deadly powder. This is what they wanted, the parents who have pushed CU and the rest of the state’s universities and colleges for two years to do more to protect students from fentanyl poisoning. (Brown, 10/9)
KTVU: 1st Person Convicted Of Fentanyl-Related Murder In California Sentenced To 15 Years
The first person to be convicted of a fentanyl-related murder was sentenced on Tuesday to 15 years in prison by a Placer County judge, KCRA reported. In July, Nathaniel Cabacungan, 21, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder following the death of a 15-year-old Northern California girl, which the Placer County District Attorney said was the first fentanyl murder conviction of its kind in the state. (10/10)
