Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Congressman Faults FDA's Response To Calif. Superbug Outbreak
A federal lawmaker criticized the latest response from the nation's top health regulator on the recent superbug outbreaks and renewed his push for congressional hearings. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Los Angeles) faulted the Food and Drug Administration for taking two months to answer a letter from a bipartisan group of 10 lawmakers in light of the public health threat. He also said some of the FDA's answers appeared misleading. (Terhune, 5/8)
Also, concerns about one of the effects of the growing use of illegal pain killers -
Public health officials are bracing for a new wave of hepatitis C infections, one unleashed by the epidemic of prescription painkiller addiction. The bloodborne virus, on the decline nationally until a few years ago, is rising rapidly among adolescents and young adults, especially in white, rural communities. These are the same areas where a devastating epidemic of prescription opioid deaths first showed up over a decade ago, followed by a wave of heroin deaths. (Sapatkin, 5/8)
