Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New Drug Responsible For Wave Of Overdoses Is So Potent That Tiny Fleck Can Kill
Mr. Hatmaker became one of more than 200 people to overdose in the Cincinnati area in the past two weeks, leaving three people dead in what the officials here called an unprecedented spike. Similar increases in overdoses have rippled recently through Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia, overwhelming ambulance crews and emergency rooms and stunning some antidrug advocates. ... In Cincinnati, some medical and law enforcement officials said they believed the overdoses were largely caused by a synthetic drug called carfentanil, an animal tranquilizer used on livestock and elephants with no practical uses for humans. ...聽Experts said an amount smaller than a snowflake could kill a person. (Healy, 9/5)
He found the woman slumped over the steering wheel, an empty syringe on the floorboard and her skin dulling to a purplish blue. Dave McClure, an EMS supervisor, counted four faint breaths per minute. Without the antidote he carried, she'd be dead in five minutes. It was 3:25 p.m. on what was, so far, an ordinary Monday. For an EMT in this struggling city, bringing an addict back from the brink of opiate-fueled death counts as routine. But as McClure searched for an unscarred vein in the young woman's arm, dozens of others were shooting or snorting the same toxic powder she'd just taken. (9/4)
Cincinnati officials on Friday announced new plans to fight heroin in the aftermath of an unprecedented spike in overdoses in the area. Mayor John Cranley says the city wants to expand efforts to keep users alive and get them into treatment. The city is working with Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and the state has shipped more overdose-reversing naloxone. (Sewell, 9/2)
Law enforcement, health professionals and addiction specialists from around the country will convene in Minnesota next week to talk about ways to address the growing number of deaths from heroin, prescription painkillers and other opioids. The two-day conference, beginning Wednesday, will also address the emerging problem of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that's blamed for a surge of deaths in some parts of the country 鈥 including the April 21 overdose death of Prince at his suburban Minneapolis home. 聽(9/2)
And in other news聽鈥
Prescription databases are playing an increasingly useful role in the battle against the U.S. opioid epidemic, federal and state officials say. A number of states are analyzing the data to probe doctors for practices that could jeopardize their medical licenses. Nationally, the number of opioid prescriptions fell by about 12% from 2012 to 2015, according to drug-research firm IMS Health, though last year鈥檚 total was still 39% higher than the total in 2000. At the same time, the abuse of heroin and other illicit street drugs has skyrocketed in the U.S. in recent years. (Calvert and Campo-Flores, 9/2)
The United States and China on Saturday agreed聽to work together to combat the flow of fentanyl and other related drugs coming into America from China. Fentanyl is more potent than even heroin, and its influx has聽led to overdoses and deaths in parts of the country already ravaged by heroin and prescription painkillers. (Scott, 9/3)
The Obama administration聽on Saturday聽announced new 鈥渆nhanced measures鈥 it will take with China to potentially stem the U.S.-bound flow of fentanyl, the powerful narcotic drug linked to the deaths of thousands of Americans in the past several years. The steps鈥攚hich included a Chinese commitment to target exported substances that are controlled in the U.S., but not China鈥攁lso cover drugs that are analogues of fentanyl. (Kamp, 9/3)
