When Health Care Workers Misuse Opioids, Getting Them Help Poses Complicated Challenges
States can deny doctors access to medication approved to help them recover from opioid addiction, precisely because they practice medicine, according to a Boston Globe story. News on the epidemic is from Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, as well.
Boston Globe:
Medical Community Struggles With Own Opioid Dilemma: How To Heal The Healers?
Medical professionals are far from immune to opioid misuse. In fact, due to their easy access to pain medication and the high stress levels that come with treating patients, they may be especially susceptible. But for many clinicians, overcoming an opioid dependence can be even more challenging than for those in the general population. (Eisner, 2/19)
Philadelphia Inquirer:
A Montgomery County ‘Pill Mill’ Doctor Traded Cash For Opioids. Now He’s Heading To Federal Prison.
Spiro Y. Kassis, 66, was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison after pleading guilty to illegally distributing controlled substances, including the opiate painkiller oxycodone. Separately, Kassis agreed to pay $1.4 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit and agreed to never again obtain a license for prescribing opioid medication. (Vella, 2/19)
The Boston Globe:
Biotech Founder Who Said His Painkiller Would Replace Opioids Sentenced To 7 Years In Prison
The founder of a biotech who said his company had developed a painkiller that would replace morphine was sentenced to seven years in prison Tuesday for defrauding investors of $7.5 million. Frank Reynolds, the founder of PixarBio in Medford, Mass., and a former fellow at the MIT Sloan School of Management, held up a bottle of NeuroRelease in court and insisted that his never-approved drug still had value. (Stalzman, 2/19)
