Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: Helping Inmates With Opioid Detox Has Long-Term Benefits; Fracking Not Worth Health Risks
Chicago Tribune: Helping Jail Inmates Kick An Opioid Addiction Helps Us All
When Ron Hain was elected sheriff of Kane County in 2018, the county jail had a problem. Inmates who had been released kept dying of drug overdoses — 15 that year. Shortly after taking office, he implemented a new program to provide voluntary drug treatment to inmates who were using heroin and other opioids. Last year, he says, only one released inmate died of a drug overdose. The key here was “medication-assisted treatment,” which gives addicted inmates access to buprenorphine — an opioid used to relieve the misery of withdrawal while curbing cravings for heroin. This may sound like merely substituting one opioid habit for another. But to public health and addiction experts, it’s a way to get drug users to give up dangerous illicit substances, help them straighten out their lives and break the cycles of crime that land them back in jail. (4/26)
Stat: End Fracking Exemptions, A Threat To Maternal And Public Health
The adoption of safe, clean, renewable energy is an essential element for sustaining the U.S. economy and maintaining the health of its citizens. There are many paths to these goals. Hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, is not one of them. To protect communities across the country today — from the Santa Maria Basin in California to the Appalachian Mountains in northern New York — as well as future generations, the country must rapidly phase out harmful fracking. (Chelsea Clinton, Terry McGovern and Micaela Martinez, 4/26)
Stat: More Pharma Companies Should Become Certified B Corps
The gradual global shift towards sustainability, with an increased focus on climate change and environmental impact, is an essential movement. I’m concerned that few companies in the pharmaceutical industry have made substantial efforts to join the drive to achieve social, economic, and environmental progress and prosperity. The development and production of drugs requires a significant amount of natural, human, and economic resources, representing myriad risks to the environment and the sustainability of the industry. But there are ways to mitigate these risks and turn that work into opportunities. (Giacomo Chiesi, 4/27)
