Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Prestigious Consulting Firm McKinsey Thrust Into Spotlight Over Advice It Gave To Drugmakers At Height Of Opioid Crisis
The New York Times: McKinsey Advised Johnson & Johnson On Increasing Opioid Sales
At the global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, the rule is sacrosanct: Never publicly disclose client advice. And for the most part, adherence to that rule has served the company well. But in recent months, as government officials seek to assign blame for the opioid crisis that has strangled large parts of the nation, McKinsey’s advice is surfacing in ways that are deeply embarrassing for the influential firm, whose clients include many of the world’s most admired companies. One lawsuit stated that McKinsey advised a pharmaceutical company to “get more patients on higher doses of opioids” and study techniques “for keeping patients on opioids longer.” (Bogdanich, 7/25)
The Washington Post: Rob Portman Says Drug Companies Should Be Required To Help Those Hurt By Opioids
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said drug companies responsible for distributing billions of opioids to Americans, leading to an epidemic of addictions and overdose deaths, should be required to help those hurt by the drug. On the Senate floor on Thursday, Portman delivered a lengthy speech in response to The Washington Post’s investigation that revealed drug companies were able to circulate 76 billion pain pills from 2006 to 2012. (Itkowitz, 7/25)
WBUR: Mass. AG Healey Is Investigating Andover-Based Pharmacy's Opioid Prescriptions
The Massachusetts attorney general is investigating an Andover-based pharmacy for potentially improperly prescribing opioids to customers. Injured Workers Pharmacy (IWP) is a home delivery pharmacy that works with attorneys on worker’s compensation claims and personal injury lawsuits across the country. (Willmsen, 7/25)
Nashville Tennessean: More Than 250K Dirty Syringes Collected In Nashville After Law Change
Eighteen months ago, in a van parked on a city street corner, a heroin user dropped a syringe into a red plastic box marked with a hazardous waste warning. Nashville had gathered its first dirty needle. Since then, more than 250,000 used syringes were collected by Street Works, the city’s only syringe exchange program. The Street Works exchange operates five days a week from a roving van, handing out clean needles and collecting dirty ones. (Kelman, 7/25)
Miami Herald: Opioid Crisis Brought 5.5 Billion Pills To Florida
In a seven-year span that saw an opioid epidemic reach crisis levels, 5,556,553,071 hydrocodone and oxycodone pills flooded into Florida.They poured across the state through shady clinics that became known as “pill mills.” But hundreds of millions streamed through grocery stores and chain pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens, according to newly released data provided by the Drug Enforcement Agency to The Washington Post and analyzed by the Herald/Times. (Mahoney and Taylor, 7/25)
Arizona Republic: Millions Of Opioid Pills Flowed From Arizona Pharmacies
A small independent pharmacy called Uptown Drug dispensed 5.6 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills in this northwest Arizona city from 2006 to 2012. That's almost 200 pills per resident. (Hinkle, 7/25)
