Two Drug Epidemics, Decades Apart: Why Government’s Response To Opioid Epidemic Different Than Crack Crisis
Many see race as a crucial factor in how Congress and health officials have focused on prevention and education rather than punishment. White victims make up almost 80 percent of the deaths from opioid overdoses, while, in contrast, in 2000, 84 percent of crack cocaine offenders were black. In other news on the crisis: a 25-year-old pill for nerve pain raises some red flags; the DEA issues an immediate suspension of opioid sales by a wholesale distributor; drug distributors head to Capitol Hill; and more.
The Wall Street Journal:
Opioid Vs. Crack: Congress Reconsiders Its Approach To Drug Epidemic
In the 1980s, Congress passed a series of laws that aimed to counter the widespread use of crack cocaine with tougher sentencing guidelines. Three decades later, lawmakers are once again considering legislation aimed at curbing a drug crisis: opioid abuse. This time, the emphasis is on funding research into a public-health crisis and enabling states to deal with its consequences. Lawmakers and experts haven’t reached a consensus on why the federal government’s response to opioids is so different from the crack epidemic that preceded it. Nor has the dynamic entirely changed on Capitol Hill. Although there is nearly universal support for a robust response to opioid abuse, a bipartisan push to revise the sentencing guidelines set during the crack era faces a more uncertain legislative future. (Peterson and Armour, 5/5)
The Associated Press:
Drug Epidemic Ensnares 25-Year-Old Pill For Nerve Pain
The story line sounds familiar: a popular pain drug becomes a new way to get high as prescribing by doctors soars. But the latest drug raising red flags is not part of the opioid family at the center of the nation's drug epidemic. It's a 25-year-old generic pill long seen as a low risk way to treat seizures, nerve pain and other ailments. The drug, called gabapentin, is one of the most prescribed medications in the U.S., ranking ninth over the last year, according to prescription tracker GoodRx. Researchers attribute the recent surge to tighter restrictions on opioid painkillers, which have left doctors searching for alternatives for their patients. (5/4)
The Washington Post:
DEA Issues First Immediate Suspension Of Opioid Sales To A Wholesaler Since 2012
The Drug Enforcement Administration said Friday that it had immediately suspended opioid sales by a wholesale distributor, accusing a Louisiana company of failing to report unusually large shipments of narcotics to independent drugstores “with questionable need for the drugs.” It was the first time the agency had immediately cut off narcotic sales by a distributor in six years, Justice Department officials said. (Bernstein and Horwitz, 5/4)
The Hill:
DEA Issues First Sales Suspension Under Trump For Opioid Wholesaler
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has ordered a Louisiana-based wholesale pharmaceutical distributor to cease sales of opioids, alleging that the company failed to report unusually large narcotics shipments to drugstores. The Justice Department said Friday that a DEA investigation revealed that, in some cases, independent pharmacies were allowed to purchase six times the quantity of narcotics they would normally order from the distributor. (Greenwood, 5/5)
Stat:
Drug Distributors Get Hauled To The Hill To Answer Questions About Opioids
The rhetoric has come from lawmakers and doctors, entertainers and academics, and even from President Trump: The pharmaceutical industry, all have said, is in large part to blame for the ongoing opioid crisis. But even amid an epidemic that took nearly 50,000 American lives in 2016, lawmakers have remained reluctant to bring pharmaceutical executives to Capitol Hill and question them face to face. (Facher, 5/7)
CQ:
House Panel Announces Opioid Legislation Markups
The House Energy and Commerce Committee will spend two days marking up nearly 60 bills related to the nation's opioid addiction problem, the panel announced Friday. The committee will consider the first slate of bills on Wednesday, May 9. Further details are expected Monday about which bills will be debated. The second markup will be held May 17. The legislation likely to be considered spans a long list of opioid issues including efforts to allow physicians to know about a patient’s prior history of abuse, more commonly known as Jessie’s Law (HR 1554). Another bill (HR 5272) would support evidence-based treatments and a separate draft bill aims to improve state prescription drug monitoring programs. (Raman, 5/4)
NPR:
Narcan And Naloxone Can Be Hard To Get
A few months ago, Kourtnaye Sturgeon helped save someone's life. She was driving in downtown Indianapolis when she saw people gathered around a car on the side of the road. Sturgeon pulled over and a man told her there was nothing she could do: Two men had overdosed on opioids and appeared to be dead. "I kind of recall saying, 'No man, I've got Narcan,'" she says, referring to the brand-name version of the opioid overdose antidote, naloxone. "Which sounds so silly, but I'm pretty sure that's what came out." (Harper, 5/7)
