Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
States Beef Up Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs Amid Opioid Epidemic
Stateline: In Opioid Epidemic, States Intensify Prescription Drug Monitoring
Long before the current opioid epidemic, most states developed drug-tracking systems to allow physicians and pharmacists to check patients’ prescription drug use, including opioid painkillers, to determine whether they may be receiving too many pills, at too high a dose or in dangerous combination with other medications such as sedatives and muscle relaxants. But few prescribers took advantage of the systems. Now, faced with a drug overdose epidemic that killed more than 63,000 people in 2016, at least 39 states are insisting that health professionals use the systems, known as prescription drug-monitoring programs, or PDMPs, to analyze each patient’s prescription drug use before writing another prescription for highly addictive drugs such as Percocet, Vicodin and OxyContin. (Vestal, 12/29)
The Associated Press: Feds Employ Data-Driven Early Warning System In Opioid Fight
The pain clinic tucked into the corner of a low-slung suburban strip mall was an open secret. Patients would travel hundreds of miles to see Dr. Andrzej Zielke, eager for what authorities described as a steady flow of prescriptions for the kinds of powerful painkillers that ushered the nation into its worst drug crisis in history. At least one of Zielke's patients died of an overdose, and prosecutors say others became so dependent on oxycodone and other opioids they would crowd his office, sometimes sleeping in the waiting room. (Gurman, 1/1)
The Wall Street Journal: Opioid Deaths Decline In New England, Offering ‘Ray Of Hope’
As the national opioid crisis rages on, hard-hit New England is offering a glimmer of hope.Several states, including Massachusetts and Rhode Island, are on pace to record fewer overdose deaths in 2017, compared with the year before. This follows years of fast-rising death tolls in the region, which has long been a hot spot for fatal overdoses. State officials say their efforts, ranging from widespread distribution of an overdose-rescue drug to expanded treatment access, are starting to bear fruit. (Kamp, 12/28)
The Associated Press: Drug Epidemic Grows In 2 Largest Counties Outside Washington
Police in the two largest counties outside the nation’s capital say the opioid epidemic is getting worse. Police chiefs from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Montgomery County, Maryland, told WTOP that they’re responding to more drug overdoses. The radio station reported Saturday that the police departments are treating the opioid scourge more as a social issue than a criminal justice one. For instance, Montgomery County Police Chief Tom Manger said social workers respond with police officers to overdoses to help users to get into treatment. (12/30)
Pioneer Press: Number Of Minnesota Newborns Addicted To Opiates Is Rising
From 2012 to 2015, the number of newborns in Minnesota needing special treatment because their moms were addicted to opioids more than tripled, from 239 to 765, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. As with the opioid crisis in general, the impact on Minnesota infants hasn’t hit all groups equally. According to the Minnesota Department of Human Services, the prevalence of babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome — i.e., on withdrawal from the drugs their mothers used — is more than seven times more likely to affect Native American infants than non-Hispanic whites, said Dr. Rahul Koranne, chief medical officer for the Minnesota Hospital Association. (Lundy, 12/26)
Denver Post: As Colorado’s Largest Drug And Alcohol Addiction Treatment Provider Closes, Other Organizations Are Scrambling
For decades, Arapahoe House has served as the largest provider of and a last line of defense against addiction in the metro area, a place where the most in need can receive help. On Tuesday, after what its leaders say was years of financial struggle to keep up with demand, it will close its doors for good. (Ingold and Brown, 1/1)
Chicago Sun Times: Cook County's Lawsuit Part Of Statewide Effort To Address Opioid Epidemic
If the opioid crisis continues, Nirav Shah, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said the epidemic will claim the lives of more than 2,700 Illinoisans by 2020. That number is in addition to the 11,000 lives the epidemic has already claimed from 2008 to September 2017, and was a catalyst for the state’s action plan to address how painkillers are over-prescribed. (Hinton, 12/27)
The Hill: Chicago-Area County Sues Opioid Manufacturers
Officials in one the nation’s largest counties on Wednesday filed lawsuits against some of the country’s biggest drug manufacturers over their allegedly aggressive marketing of prescription opioid painkillers. Cook County, Ill., which includes Chicago, joins an increasing number of cities, states and counties suing drug manufacturers amid the United States’s spiraling opioid epidemic. (Weixel, 12/27)
NPR: As Opioid Addiction Rises, Physicians Seek Alternatives
Seven years ago, Robert Kerley, who makes his living as a truck driver, was loading drywall onto his trailer when a gust of wind knocked him off. He fell 14 feet and hurt his back. For pain, a series of doctors prescribed him a variety of opioids: Vicodin, Percocet and Oxycontin. In less than a year, the 45-year-old from Federal Heights, Colo., says he was hooked. "I spent most of my time high, lying on the couch, not doing nothing, sleeping, dozing off, falling asleep everywhere," he says. (Daley, 12/29)
