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The Obama administration says it will distribute $53 million to 44 states in an effort to curb opioid abuse. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell says the funding will focus on reducing over-prescribing of pain killers, increasing access to treatment and making sure the antidote naloxone is widely available. The administration is also calling on Congress to provide $1.1 billion in new money, saying legislation recently signed into law didn't do enough to expand treatment. That bill authorized $181 million in new spending. (8/31)

Two Obama administration officials again asked Congress to approve the $1.1 billion that President Obama has requested to respond to the opioid epidemic, while announcing more than $50 million in grant money for states and American Indian tribes. ... The various grants being awarded focus on HHS’s three priorities for addressing the surge of opioid use in the U.S.: providing training and education to prescribers; increasing the use and access to Naloxone, a drug that can reverse an opioid overdose; and expanding the use of medication-assisted treatment. (McIntire, 8/30)

The Obama administration on Wednesday announced $53 million in grants to states to help fight the epidemic of opioid abuse. The funds are part of an ongoing administration effort to fight a rising tide of overdose deaths from prescription painkillers and heroin. There were 28,000 deaths in 2014, more than any year on record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Sullivan, 8/31)

As the opioid epidemic advances, public health officials nationwide are calling on doctors to help stanch overdose deaths and salvage shattered lives by prescribing medications that have proven highly effective at keeping people away from drugs. So far, though, not enough doctors are signing up, and less than half of the 2.2 million people who need treatment for opioid addiction are receiving it, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). (Vestal, 8/31)

According to a spokesperson with the state department that oversees the Missouri Board of Pharmacy, Missouri pharmacies do not have to wait for final rules from the board before distributing the opioid overdose antidote naloxone without a prescription. “The new provisions are ‘self-executing’ and do not require a Board rule for implementation.  This means pharmacists with a valid protocol are authorized to dispense naloxone, as of [Aug. 28, 2016],” said Yaryna Klimchak with the Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions & Professional Registration. (Phillips, 8/30)

The Drug Enforcement Administration on Tuesday announced its intention to temporarily ban the chemicals contained in kratom, a popular herbal supplement that has been widely used as a way to self-treat chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, and a number of other conditions. Kratom, a plant from Southeast Asia that activates some of the same receptors as opioids, can be easily purchased online and in smoke shops. Although consumers have embraced the supplement as a painkiller and in some cases as a replacement for opioids, physicians worry about users who turn to kratom to try to wean themselves off opioids without seeking professional help. They also worry that it may be adulterated, given how little the substance is regulated. (Eric, 8/30)