Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Sackler Family Fires Back Against What It Says Are Misleading Allegations And Inflammatory Court Coverage
The Associated Press: Family Behind OxyContin Calls Opioid Suit False, Misleading
Massachusetts authorities created a false picture of the Sackler family's role in promoting OxyContin, the Sacklers said Tuesday in their first court response to allegations that individual family members — not just their company, Purdue Pharma — helped fuel the deadly opioid epidemic. The Sackler family says a lawsuit filed by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey that accuses Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma and the family of hiding the risks of opioids from doctors and patients is riddled with inaccurate and misleading statements. The Sacklers are accusing Healey of cherry picking from hundreds of internal documents in an attempt to wrongly vilify the family for the public health crisis. (4/2)
Modern Healthcare: Insurers Push Back On HHS Recommendations For Non-Opioid Treatment
Insurers pushed back against an HHS task force's finding that they are not covering non-opioid pain management therapies such as acupuncture, while proponents of such treatment see a chance to argue for Medicare reimbursement. A congressionally mandated report from the Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force on gaps in treatment concluded that payers often don't pay for non-opioid therapies that are more expensive than opioids. But America's Health Insurance Plans, the top insurance lobbying group, said in comments to the report that it isn't that simple. (King, 4/2)
St. Louis Public Radio: Safety Net Health Program To Offer Addiction Treatment To Uninsured St. Louisans
Gateway to Better Health is a state-sponsored program that provides health care to nearly 20,000 St. Louis and St. Louis County residents who often can’t afford health insurance but don’t qualify for the state’s Medicaid program. It provides primary, specialty and urgent care at the region’s five federally qualified health centers and at St. Louis County-run health clinics. (Fentem, 4/2)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Lawmakers Vote To Weaken Opioid Tracking Program
In the midst of an opioid epidemic, the Georgia Legislature has voted to weaken enforcement of one of the investigative tools used against it. On Tuesday the General Assembly voted to take away the ability of the Georgia Composite Medical Board to discipline doctors who fail to register for an opioid prescription tracking database. (Hart, 4/2)
Boston Globe: Mass. Prisons Start Offering Medication To Treat Addiction
For the first time, Massachusetts prisons are providing a medication to treat opioid addiction to newly arriving inmates, as the state launches a groundbreaking program established by legislation passed last year. For now, the Department of Correction is providing just one of the two medications required under the law, which took effect Monday. (Freyer, 4/2)
