Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: Majority Of Counterfeit Scripts Contain Fentanyl; Upadacitinib Proves Effective Against Crohn's
USA Today: 6 Out Of 10 Fake Prescription Pills Are Laced With Fentanyl. Warn Kids
Fentanyl is a lab-made opioid developed to treat severe pain. Like other opioids, it’s extremely effective − and extremely addictive. As the opioid crisis raged through the mid-1990s, people addicted to prescription opioids turned to the street. (Tracy Vonder Brink, 5/30)
New England Journal of Medicine: JAK1 Inhibition To Treat Crohn’s Disease
In this issue of the Journal, Loftus et al.1 report the results of three trials of upadacitinib (a small-molecule drug that inhibits the Janus kinase [JAK] 1 [JAK1] protein) for the treatment of moderate-to-severe Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Two were trials of induction therapy, and one was a trial of maintenance therapy. (Maria T. Abreu, M.D., 5/25)
