Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Xylazine Found Across US, Prompts DEA Warning Over 'Tranq'
CNN: DEA Issues Alert About Widespread Threat Of Xylazine
The US Drug Enforcement Administration issued an alert Monday about the widespread threat of fentanyl mixed with xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer also commonly known as “tranq” or “tranq dope.” “Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has every faced, fentanyl, even deadlier,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in the alert. “DEA has seized xylazine and fentanyl mixtures in 48 of 50 states. The DEA Laboratory System is reporting that in 2022 approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine.” (Chavez, 3/20)
CBS News: Xylazine, Fentanyl Mixtures Found In Almost Every State, DEA Warns
The DEA has seized mixtures of fentanyl and xylazine in 48 of 50 U.S. states, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said. Nearly a quarter of fentanyl powder tested by DEA labs in 2022 had xylazine, also known as tranq, mixed into it. "Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier," Milgram said. (Chasan, 3/20)
In other news about opioids and addiction —
Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Prescription Opioids Linked To Cognitive Decline In Elderly, Study Finds
Prescription opioid use could have a negative effect on cognitive function in older adults, according to a recent Mayo Clinic study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The population-based observational study used data from the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging, a research initiative examining the cognitive decline in older people for nearly 20 years. (Jacobbi, 3/21)
Stat: Methadone Doses Haven’t Kept Up In The Age Of Fentanyl
Patients beginning treatment for opioid addiction often face excruciating withdrawal symptoms. But for people struggling to transition from ultra-potent illicit fentanyl to comparatively weaker addiction medications, help may be on the way. A new federal regulation would make it easier for some patients to begin treatment on significantly higher doses of methadone, a key medicine used to treat opioid use disorder. (Facher, 3/21)
AP: With Overdoses Up, States Look At Harsher Fentanyl Penalties
But the strategy is alarming recovery advocates who say focusing on the criminal angle of drugs has historically backfired, including when lawmakers elevated crack cocaine penalties in the 1980s. “Every time we treat drugs as a law enforcement problem and push stricter laws, we find that we punish people in ways that destroy their lives and make it harder for them to recover later on,” said Adam Wandt, an assistant professor of public policy at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. He said people behind bars often continue getting drugs — often without receiving quality addiction treatment — then emerge to find it’s harder to get work. (Stern, Pollard and Mulvihill, 3/20)
KHN and WBUR: Some Roadblocks To Lifesaving Addiction Treatment Are Gone. Now What?
For two decades — as opioid overdose deaths rose steadily — the federal government limited access to buprenorphine, a medication that addiction experts consider the gold standard for treating patients with opioid use disorder. Study after study shows it helps people continue addiction treatment while reducing the risk of overdose and death. Clinicians who wanted to prescribe the medicine had to complete an eight-hour training. They could treat only a limited number of patients and had to keep special records. They were given a Drug Enforcement Administration registration number starting with X, a designation many doctors say made them a target for drug-enforcement audits. (Bebinger, 3/21)
On gambling addiction —
Insider: Millennial With Sports-Betting Addiction Warns About March Madness
Last year, James, which is not his real name because he spoke with Insider on the condition of anonymity for privacy reasons, bet over $200,000 on sports across legal gambling platforms such as DraftKings and FanDuel, according to documents viewed by Insider, often wagering as much as $5,000 per day. At his peak, he turned roughly $2,500 into over $30,000 in winnings. While the highs were "exhilarating," James said, gambling began to take over his life. His mood soared and plummeted based on the outcomes of bets, and his addiction began to influence his relationships with his friends and family. He recalled not being able to even read his child a book without actively monitoring a bet. (Zinkula, 3/18)
