Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Purdue Pharma Nixed Plans To Support Opioid-Addiction Treatment As Barrage Of Lawsuits Flooded In
The Wall Street Journal: Purdue Pharma Made, Then Ditched, Plans For Opioid-Treatment Nonprofit
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP nixed plans earlier this year to launch a foundation to fund opioid-addiction treatment and research as the company rethought its strategy amid hundreds of lawsuits and a possible bankruptcy filing. Purdue staff pitched the foundation concept several years ago, and the drugmaker’s owners and executives spent several months developing the latest version, according to people familiar with the matter and internal company emails viewed by The Wall Street Journal. (Hopkins, 9/12)
PBS NewsHour: What A Purdue Settlement Would Mean For Fighting The Opioid Crisis
On Wednesday it was reported that the pharmaceutical company has reached a deal with nearly two dozen states and more than 2,000 cities and counties for a tentative settlement. Purdue Pharma would not confirm that settlement when asked by the PBS NewsHour. But the National Prescription Opioid Litigation group, which represents the cities and counties that sued drug companies over the opioid crisis, issued a statement on Wednesday saying the breakthrough was heartening. (Santhanam, 9/12)
The Associated Press: Chaotic Talks Show Challenge Of Reaching Opioid Settlement
For months, the judge overseeing national litigation over the opioids crisis urged all sides to reach a settlement that could end thousands of lawsuits filed by state and local governments. But the chaotic developments this week in the case against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma underscore how difficult that goal is. By Thursday, half of the nation’s state attorneys general said they would reject a tentative deal crafted by the other half, and many criticized the terms as grossly insufficient. (Mulvihill, 9/13)
Stat: Historians Seek Public Archive Of Documents From Opioid Litigation
In settling lawsuits against them, companies often insist that all of the documents and depositions gathered as part of the cases be locked away or destroyed. To head that off — and to ensure a full accounting of the origins of the prescription opioid crisis — a group of historians is asking that any settlement in the massive opioid litigation require all collected documents be preserved and made public. In a court brief Thursday, the experts called for “full and permanent access to the records” for scholars, policymakers, journalists, and the public, and for the defendants to cover the costs of creating an archive. (Joseph, 9/12)
Colorado Sun: Colorado Isn’t Part Of Settlement With Opioid Maker Purdue Pharma; Attorney General Calls Offer “Inadequate”
Colorado is not part of a tentative national settlement with opioid maker Purdue Pharma, Attorney General Phil Weiser said Wednesday. Weiser says the up to $12 billion deal reached between many other states and thousands of local governments isn’t adequate to address the company’s impacts in Colorado. (Paul and Ingold, 9/11)
North Carolina Health News: N.C. Efforts To Reduce Opioid Dependency Highlighted In National Report
In a national report subtitled “Leading-edge Practices and Next Steps,” the American Medical Association and consulting firm Manatt Health highlighted a North Carolina Medical Society initiative to support providers treating opioid use disorder. Project OBOT, short for office-based opioid treatment, helps North Carolina providers get trained to prescribe medication-assisted treatment (MAT) to patients and eases roadblocks for patients beginning and staying on MAT. (Duong, 9/13)
