Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Some Mexican Pharmacies Selling Fentanyl, Meth In Place Of Real Meds
Los Angeles Times: Some Pharmacies In Mexico Passing Off Fentanyl, Meth As Legitimate Pharmaceuticals
If you walk down the right side street, the offers are plentiful, even in broad daylight. Young men in plain T-shirts draw near and call out their wares: Pills. Cocaine. Guns. But if you wave them away and go just a few feet farther, you can walk into a pharmacy where you might get something just as dangerous. You just won’t know it. (Blakinger and Sheets, 2/2)
CNN: Blinken Under Pressure To Push China On Role In Lethal Fentanyl Trade When He Visits Beijing
Members of Congress are urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken to pressure China to do more to curb the flow of fentanyl and synthetic opioids into the United States on his visit to the country which is expected to take place in the next few days. On Wednesday, a group of 14 Republican senators led by Marco Rubio of Florida wrote to Blinken ahead of his trip highlighting China’s role in the “fentanyl crisis” as one of many issues they wanted him to address. (Atwood and Hansler, 2/2)
More on fentanyl and opioids —
AP: Ky. Attorney General Launches Initiative To Fight Fentanyl
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has launched an initiative to fight fentanyl. ... “Operation Fight Fentanyl is our newest effort to attack the opioid epidemic by engaging with communities across the Commonwealth to hear how they’ve been impacted by this deadly drug and what steps we can take to beat it,” Cameron said. (2/3)
Fox News: Fentanyl Vaccine Poised To Be 'Game Changer' In Fight Against Addiction
The end to the fentanyl crisis may be in sight, thanks to a team of researchers in Texas who claim they have successfully developed a vaccine that could be a "game changer" in addiction treatment. A team led by the University of Houston has developed what they say is a fentanyl vaccine that can block the synthetic opioid from entering the brain — essentially curing addiction by eliminating the euphoric high. (Stegall and Chiaramonte, 2/2)
ABC News: If Fentanyl Is So Deadly, Why Do Drug Dealers Use It To Lace Illicit Drugs?
According to law enforcement officers and former drug dealers interviewed by ABC News, drug dealers often think they can mitigate the risk for their clients by measuring the fentanyl carefully. (Ordonez and Salzman, 2/1)
CNN: Tracking The Opioid Crisis: Inside The DEA's Secret Lab
Sitting among the warehouses of Dulles, Virginia, is one of the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s forensic labs. It’s one of eight across the country where scientists analyze illegal drugs and try to stay ahead of what’s driving deadly overdoses. Starting in the late 1990s with overprescribing of prescription narcotics, the opioid epidemic has continued to plague the United States for decades. What has changed is the type of drugs that have killed more than half a million people during the past 20 years. (Sealy and Kounang, 2/2)
WECT News: Science Or Superstition: Does Exposure To Fentanyl Pose Risks Of Overdose?
There’s no question that the powerful opioid known as Fentanyl comes with serious health risks that can kill someone who ingests it, but over the past several years, law enforcement agencies have promoted the idea that simply touching the drug can lead to overdoses—an idea that experts say isn’t true. (Praats, 2/2)
Fox 6 Milwaukee: After UWM Freshman's Fentanyl Death, Parents Warn Others
Logan Rachwal, 19, was a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. On Feb. 14, 2021, his parents got heartbreaking news they will never forget. Their son had died after taking a pill he thought was Percocet. "I knew right away something was not right," said Erin Rachwal. In their grief, they are sharing their story to stop more deaths. On Thursday, they joined law enforcement to help educate the community. (Sears, 2/2)
On addiction and substance abuse treatment —
Stat: New Report Highlights Lack Of Investment In Addiction Cures
There are about as many Americans living with addiction as there are Americans living with cancer — but you wouldn’t know it based on the world of venture capital. In the past decade, investment firms have poured roughly 270 times more money into developing cancer drugs than addiction cures, according to a new report from BIO, the biotechnology industry trade group. (Facher, 2/2)
KHN: Montana Lawmakers Seek More Information About Governor’s HEART Fund
A fund championed by Gov. Greg Gianforte to fill gaps in Montana’s substance use and behavioral health treatment programs has spent $5.2 million since last year as the state waits for an additional $19 million in federal funding. Now, the Republican governor wants to put more state money into the Healing and Ending Addiction Through Recovery and Treatment initiative, but lawmakers and mental health advocates are asking for more accountability and clarity on how the money is spent. (Larson, 2/3)
