Unheeded Warnings And Aggressive Marketing: In Australia’s Ballooning Opioid Epidemic Advocates See Echoes Of America’s Crisis
Like in the United States, many health experts' warnings fell on deaf ears in the Australian government. Now the country is facing a similar epidemic to America's. "I was screaming from the mountaintops after Jon died and I'd started doing my research. And it was like I'm screaming and nobody wants to hear me," says Jasmin Raggam, whose brother Jon died in 2014, a sentiment that sounds all too familiar to many caught in the U.S. crisis. In other news on the epidemic: fentanyl, fraud, DEA's footprints, and more.
The Associated Press:
Australia Faces Its Own Opioid Crisis After Warnings Ignored
The coroner's sense of futility was clear, as he investigated the death of yet another Australian killed by prescription opioids. Coroners nationwide have long urged officials to address Australia's ballooning opioid addiction, and to create a tracking system to stop people from collecting multiple prescriptions from multiple doctors. Yet even as thousands died, the coroners' pleas were met largely with silence. (Gelineau, 9/5)
NPR:
'Fentanyl, Inc.' Tracks Opioid's Dark Web Path From China To U.S. Street Corners
More than 70,000 Americans died from drug overdoses last year, and a growing number of those deaths are attributed to the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl. Journalist Ben Westhoff says the drug, while an important painkiller and anesthesia medicine in hospitals, is now killing more Americans annually as a street drug than any other in U.S. history. "Fentanyl was originally formulated as a medical drug, something that was used in ... open heart surgery and in end-of-life care," Westhoff says. "It's an opioid that is 50 times stronger than heroin, 100 times stronger than morphine." (Davies, 9/4)
Austin American-Statesman:
Texas Sues Opioid Drug Maker, Alleging Fraud, Says It Misled Doctors
The Texas attorney general’s office is suing pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson for fraud, alleging it misrepresented the dangers of one of its opioid medications and helped fuel the state’s opioid crisis. The civil lawsuit filed Tuesday says that Johnson & Johnson’s sales representatives told doctors that the drug Duragesic, a pain patch that delivers the drug fentanyl through the skin, had fewer side effects, worked better and posed less of a risk for addiction than other opioids. (Huber, 9/4)
MPR:
Northeast Minn. Opioid Epidemic Brings DEA To Duluth
For the first time since the 1990s, federal officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration will be based in Duluth. The agency announced its plans this week to expand to Duluth to help combat the trafficking of opioids and methamphetamine in the region. It plans to hire two new federal agents, plus two additional local officers who will be federally deputized. (Kraker, 9/4)
MPR:
It’s More Than Just Detox — Hennepin County Has A New Alternative To Jail Or ER For Mental Health Crises
For a long time, the address 1800 Chicago in Minneapolis has been synonymous with detox. As in, end-of-the-road, hit-rock-bottom detox. Now Hennepin County is turning the facility into a one-stop shop for services ranging from detox to mental health care to help signing up for low-income housing. It’s designed to keep people with mental health and substance use problems out of jail and hospitals. (Roth, 9/4)
Kaiser Health News:
Americans More Likely Than Swedes To Fill Prescriptions For Opioids After Surgery
Americans and Canadians are seven times more likely to fill a prescription for opioid pain pills in the week after surgery than Swedes, says a study published Wednesday, one of the first to quantify international differences. More than 75% of patients in the U.S. and Canada filled a prescription for opioids following four common surgeries, compared with 11% of Swedes, researchers report in JAMA Network Open. Americans also received the highest doses of opioids. (Appleby, 9/4)
Kaiser Health News:
School Districts Double Down On Drug Testing, Targeting Even Middle Schoolers
Thirteen-year-old Aura Brillhart and her 11-year-old sister, Morgan, will face a new sort of test in school this year: a drug test. The middle and high schools in their community of Fort Scott, Kan., are among the latest to require random drug testing of students who want to participate in sports, clubs, dances or any other extracurricular activities. “I hate that it’s even an issue for us to have to address,” said their mom, Jody Hoener. “But putting our heads in the sand isn’t going to make things any better.” (Ungar, 9/5)
And in other drug news —
The Hill:
Advocates Doubt Trump DEA Will Ease Rules On Marijuana Research
The Trump administration gave new hope to marijuana researchers when the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) appeared to open the door for new applications for federally approved marijuana growers. While 33 states have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes, federal research is extremely restricted. The administration’s announcement last week that it would expand the number of marijuana growers signaled a positive change after years of agency inaction and delay. (Weixel, 9/4)
