Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump Calls For UN Countries To Pledge To Fight Illicit Drug Problem, But Focus On Opioids Causes Some To Balk
Reuters: Some 129 Countries Sign Up To Trump's Pledge At U.N. To Fight Drugs
Some 129 countries at the United Nations signed on to a U.S.-drafted pledge to fight the global drug problem on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump warned presented a public health and national security threat. In order to attend the brief U.N. event with Trump, countries had to sign the one-page "call to action on the world drug problem." Trump held a similar event at the annual gathering of world leaders in New York last year, focused on U.N. reform. (Nichols and Mason, 9/24)
USA Today: Donald Trump: United Nations Must Confront Confront 'Scourge' Of Drugs
Trump did not discuss specific actions he wanted other countries to take. The U.S. is dealing with an opioid crisis that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says claimed a staggering 72,000 lives last year. (Fritze and Shesgreen, 9/24)
Other news on the epidemic comes out of Virginia, California and New Hampshire —
Kaiser Health News: Workers Overdose On The Job, And Employers Struggle To Respond
Jimmy Sullivan prepared for his job as a bricklayer the same way every morning for years: injecting a shot of heroin before leaving his car. The first time he overdosed on the job, in 2013 at a Virginia construction site, a co-worker who is his cousin stealthily injected a dose of Narcan, an opioid antidote, into Sullivan’s leg. He woke up and went straight back to work. The second time, in 2014, his cousin revived him again, and after resting for an hour in his car, Sullivan was back on the job. His boss told him not to let it happen again. But within a month, Sullivan had again overdosed on the job site. This time, another worker called 911. After a few hours at the hospital, he went back to work. (Gold, 9/25)
California Healthline: Judges In California Losing Sway Over Court-Ordered Drug Treatment
Dressed in jailhouse orange, with hands and feet shackled, Jimi Ray Haynes stood up in a Santa Cruz County courtroom and pleaded guilty to a felony weapons charge. Haynes, then 32, had spent the previous two weeks in jail detoxing from methamphetamine and heroin. The judge told Haynes he could serve part of his yearlong jail sentence in a drug treatment program rather than locked in county jail. (Rinker, 9/24)
New Hampshire Union Leader: Sununu Center Eyed For New Use As Drug Treatment Center
The Sununu Youth Services Center could begin hosting a privately operated, 36-bed drug treatment center for youth by November, a key state lawmaker said on Monday. Construction retrofits of $1.2 million have already taken place at the youth detention facility. Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeffrey Meyers is in negotiations with a private organization to operate a facility there, said state Rep. Frank Byron, chairman of a study committee considering the future of the Sununu Center. Byron said Meyers should have a contract for the Governor and Executive Council in an upcoming meeting, and portions of the treatment facility could be in place by November. (Hayward, 9/24)
