‘There’s No Simple Solution’ To Ending Opioid Crisis, But Here Are Steps Experts Recommend
Two experts on the opioid epidemic weigh in on moves the government could make to help alleviate the crisis, including a ban on ultra-high dosage painkillers. Meanwhile, lawmakers wonder why there's been a delay in officially declaring the epidemic a national emergency.
The Food and Drug Administration should consider banning 鈥渦ltra-high-dosage鈥 painkillers from the market, and law enforcement must step up efforts to curb the flow of heroin and fentanyl into the United States if the nation hopes to come to grips with the opioid epidemic, two authorities on the crisis said Thursday. (Bernstein, 10/12)
A Democratic and Republican senator are questioning why President Trump hasn鈥檛 officially declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency, despite saying his administration was drafting the paperwork to do so two months ago. 鈥淲e applaud your stated commitment to addressing opioid addiction and agree with you that the crisis is a 鈥榮erious problem鈥 deserving of increased federal resources,鈥 Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) wrote in a letter to Trump, referring to comments he made on Aug. 10. (Roubein, 10/12)
And in other news聽鈥
Police in Ohio say hospital workers used three doses of the overdose drug naloxone to revive a 1陆-year-old boy who tested positive for opioids. The child鈥檚 mother tells police in Toledo that her older son saw the toddler put a bag in his mouth that he found at a neighborhood park. (10/12)
An appeals court says a Pennsylvania judge was justified in denying parole to a pregnant addict to safeguard her unborn child from her drug abuse. A Superior Court panel on Tuesday agreed Lehigh County Judge James Anthony was right to deny parole to Britnee Becker last year. (10/12)
Wayne and Oakland county executives announced a joint lawsuit today against several drug manufacturers and distributors, alleging the "deceptive marketing and sale of opioids" including OxyContin and Fentanyl. Wayne County Executive Warren Evans called the opioid-related addictions and deaths鈥攚hich have claimed 817 lives in his county in 2016, up from 506 in 2015 鈥 a "full-blown health crisis from which the drug companies have made billions," in a joint news release. (Dudar, 10/12)
