Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Opioid Distributors Win First Trial Verdict Of A Suit Pressed By Families
Reuters: Cardinal Health, McKesson Prevail In Georgia Families' Opioid Trial
Drug distributors Cardinal Health Inc, McKesson Corp and JM Smith Corp on Wednesday prevailed at trial in Georgia in a case brought by families of opioid addicts accusing the companies of acting as drug dealers. A jury in Glynn County Superior Court handed down the verdict after two days of deliberations, according to Courtroom View Network, which carried live video of the trial. It was the first trial of opioid claims brought by individual plaintiffs, rather than government entities. (Pierson, 3/1)
The New York Times: Opioid Distributors Cleared Of Liability To Georgia Families Ravaged By Addiction
Over the past month in a southeast Georgia courtroom, three generations of families testified about how their lives had been savaged by addiction to prescription opioids: A young man recounted huddling in a locked room with his brothers, while his father, waving a shotgun, ransacked the house for pills. A mother described holding her granddaughter, while her dopesick daughter rammed a car into the house. A young woman told of her rape at age 14 by a drug dealer, while her mother nodded out. They ticked off overdose deaths: grandparents, parents, siblings, spouses. And a baby, whose mother injected Dilaudid throughout her pregnancy and who shook uncontrollably throughout his monthlong life. (Hoffman, 3/1)
In other news about the opioid crisis —
Stat: Advocates, Lawmakers: Biden Telehealth Rule Will Worsen Drug Crisis
Doctors, public health experts, and even Democratic members of Congress are sounding the alarm on a new Biden administration proposal to restrict access to a key addiction-treatment medication. The proposal would curtail access via telehealth to buprenorphine, a common and highly effective drug used to treat opioid use disorder. (Facher, 3/2)
CBS News: Opioid Crisis Settlements Have Totaled Over $50 Billion. But How Is That Money Being Used?
A series of settlements from lawsuits related to the opioid crisis have flooded billions into the United States. This influx of money, advocates say, presents a unique opportunity for the U.S. to fund treatment solutions for substance use disorder and the overdose epidemic. The settlement money comes from a number of legal battles around the nation and the world. Companies including Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and Walgreens have settled, to the tune of billions of dollars, for their role in fueling the opioid crisis through actions like downplaying the risks of prescription opioids and promoting the use of the drugs. (Bree, 3/1)
In news about opioid alternatives —
Houston Chronicle: Texas Physicians Explore Alternatives To Opioids
The opioid crisis continues to blur the lines between helpful and harmful for the people who suffer chronic pain and the physicians who try to help them. "Unfortunately, the medical community is still not clear on why some patients have chronic pain and some don't," said San Antonio anesthesiologist Dr. Cannon Clifton. (Kyle Morgan, 3/1)
Fierce Biotech: Confo Hands Baton To Lilly For Non-Opioid Pain Med In $40M Deal
Eli Lilly will take the baton on developing a peripheral pain candidate from Confo Therapeutics, handing off $40 million upfront and a potential $590 million total down the track if all goes well. Confo has been developing CFTX-1554 in phase 1 as a non-opioid option for neuropathic pain. The condition is caused by damage to the nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord. The therapy could also eventually be developed in other pain indications. (Armstrong, 3/2)
