Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Rite Aid Shareholders Press Pharmacy Chain To Report On How Addictive Painkiller Are Monitored
Stat: Rite Aid Shareholders Vote To Support Increased Oversight Of Opioid Sales
In the latest response to the opioid crisis, more than half of Rite Aid (RAD) shareholders voted to require the board of the pharmacy chain to report on how the addictive painkillers are monitored, and how the company is managing related financial and reputational risks. Specifically, 57 percent of shareholders supported the resolution, which also called for the Rite Aid board to describe senior executive compensation metrics or policies. The resolution was introduced by the UAW Retiree Benefits Trust, a member of Investors for Opioid Accountability, a coalition of institutional investors that has been pushing wholesalers and pharmacies to take steps to reign in the opioid crisis. (Silverman, 10/30)
Stateline: Long Stigmatized, Methadone Clinics Multiply In Some States
While Congress and the Trump administration were promoting greater use of the addiction medication buprenorphine to quell the opioid epidemic, a handful of states were licensing new methadone clinics in dozens of the nation’s hardest-hit communities. In fact, the methadone treatment industry, which began in the late 1960s, grew more in the past four years than it has in the past two decades, said Mark Parrino, president of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence Inc., which represents methadone treatment providers. (Vestal, 10/31)
