Gillibrand Took $2,400 From Family She Would Prosecute for Profiting Off Opioid Crisis
Opioids
Obama Admin. Ignored Public Health Experts Seeking Fentanyl Crisis Declaration
In 2016, a group of national health experts asked the Obama administration to declare a national public health emergency in response to spiking fentanyl deaths, but were ignored, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.
WaPo Gives Ocasio-Cortez Three Pinocchios for ‘Misleading’ Claims About Trump, Opioid Crisis
The Washington Post’s fact checker gave Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) “Three Pinocchios” for her “misleading” claims about President Donald Trump’s use of federal funds to address the nation’s opioid crisis.
FDA Chief Wants to Test if Opioids Actually Work
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is making plans to compel pharmaceutical firms to test the safety and efficacy of prescription opioids, an area where research is surprisingly lacking.
DEA, Google Team Up to Make Drug Disposal Easier
People looking to dispose of their unused prescription drugs will soon be able to just ask Google, the firm announced Thursday.
Study: Crackdown on Prescriptions Drove up Hep. C Infections
A key decision made to curb the opioid crisis not only made that situation worse, but also caused a surge in deadly hepatitis C infections, a new paper argues.
Hepatitis C is the most common blood-borne infection in the United States, and is, according to the paper, responsible for more deaths annually than any other infectious disease. Once infected, the virus can take ten to forty years to fully induce its effects; the results, however, are eventually deadly unless treated.
Study: Prescription Crackdown Won’t Do Much to Stop Crisis
Cutting the supply of prescription opioids has been a popular intervention to fight the drug crisis. But, according to a study released last week by the Journal of the American Medical Association, these interventions are likely to cut opioid deaths by only 3 to 6 percent by 2025.
Survey: 70% of Doctors Think They’ve Given Opioids to Addicted People
Seventy percent of doctors and pharmacists believe they have dispensed opioids to a person with an opioid use disorder, according to a new survey of medical professionals.
Senators Again Floating Importing Prescription Drugs
Sens. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) are testing the waters of the 116th Congress for support of importing drugs from Canada, an effort to combat exploding prescription costs.
Met Considers Dumping Controversial Sackler Family
New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is considering dropping long-time major donors, the Sackler family, after new reporting indicates they were more closely tied to their company’s role in the opioid crisis than previously thought.
