Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Most Drug Distributors Skirt Responsibility For Any Role In Opioid Epidemic During Testimony
The Associated Press: Drug Supply Firm Execs Say They Didn't Cause Opioids Crisis
Top executives of the nation's leading wholesale drug distributors told Congress under oath Tuesday that their companies didn't help cause the nation's deadly opioid epidemic, drawing bipartisan wrath that included one lawmaker suggesting prison terms for some company officials. The confrontation came at a House subcommittee hearing at which legislators asked why huge numbers of potentially addictive prescription opioid pills had been shipped to West Virginia, among the states hardest hit by the drug crisis. Lawmakers are making an election-year push for legislation aimed at curbing a growing epidemic that saw nearly 64,000 people die last year from drug overdoses, two-thirds from opioids. (Fram, 5/8)
The Washington Post: Opioid Crisis: Drug Executives Express Regret To Congress On Tuesday, One Says His Company Contributed To The Epidemic
A major distributor of powerful painkillers apologized Tuesday for the company’s role in facilitating the flow of highly addictive painkillers into U.S. communities, the first time a corporation has expressed regret for involvement in the opioid crisis. George Barrett, executive chairman of Cardinal Health, said he is sorry the company did not act faster to impede the shipping of millions of hydrocodone and oxycodone pills to two small pharmacies in West Virginia. The state has the nation’s highest rate of opioid overdose death; the epidemic now claims tens of thousands of lives each year. (Zezima and Higham, 5/8)
The Wall Street Journal: Opioid Shipments To Small Towns Come Under Spotlight At Hearing
Most company executives told a House hearing that their companies’ actions didn’t fan the opioid epidemic in the state. But some acknowledged the industry shipped too many pills and failed to identify major abuses in overprescribing. “With the benefit of hindsight, I wish we had moved faster and asked a different set of questions. I am deeply sorry we did not,” said George Barrett, executive board chairman of Cardinal Health Inc. Only one executive, Joseph Mastandrea, chairman of Miami-Luken Inc. said that his company had a “shared responsibility” for the opioid crisis.The testimony marked a pivotal juncture in a year-long bipartisan investigation by a House Energy and Commerce oversight panel into alleged pill dumping in West Virginia. (Armour and Burton, 5/8)
Stat: Congressman To Drug Distributors: 'I Just Want You To Feel Shame'
“I just want you to feel shame,” Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.) told the executives at one point, suggesting that financial penalties were insufficient and alluding to jail time. “So what’s the proper accountability? What’s the punishment? It’s just a slap on the wrist? Maybe a hundredth of one percent of the revenue? What’s the punishment that fits this crime?” (Facher, 5/9)
The Hill: Distributor Executive Apologizes For Large Opioid Shipments
From 2007 to 2012, distributors sent more than 780 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills to West Virginia, about half of which came from AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson, according to a memo from the Energy and Commerce Committee’s majority staff. “We have learned much from the investigation but still have many questions,” the subcommittee chairman, Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.), said in his opening statement. (Roubein, 5/8)
Politico: Opioid Distributors Blame Pharmacies, Docs For Crisis
Lawmakers on Wednesday showed bipartisan interest in trying to force the executives to take responsibility and chastised several of them for not being upfront with details. Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) recounted how one West Virginia town of about 400 people received 9 million opioid pills in two years and how a single pharmacy in a town of 1,800 people got 17 million opioid pills in a decade. Since the 1970s, drug distributors have been responsible for flagging suspicious orders and monitoring sales — something Walden suggested has not been done. (Haberkorn and Ehley, 5/8)
