Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Drug Distributors Summoned To Testify In Front Of Congress About Their Role In Opioid Epidemic
Current and former executives with the pharmaceutical distributors that are accused of flooding communities with powerful prescription painkillers have been summoned to testify before Congress about their role in the U.S. opioid epidemic. The hearing, scheduled for May 8 before a House Energy and Commerce Committee oversight panel, has the potential to be a defining moment for the pharmaceutical industry, much like when tobacco executives were called to testify before Congress in 1994. The pharmaceutical executives are expected to face tough questions under oath about why their companies pumped so many highly addictive pain pills into West Virginia and other states, fueling what has become the deadliest drug crisis in U.S. history. (Zezima and Higham, 4/12)
Five executives of opioid distribution companies will testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in May about how millions of pain pills found their way to small West Virginia towns. “For one year, the entire committee — Republicans and Democrats — have pressed five distributors with a presence in West Virginia, as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for answers as to how tremendous amounts of pills ended up in these small communities,” said Rep. Gregg Harper, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. (Hellmann, 4/12)
Tensions brewed between Democrats and Republicans during a two-day hearing on improving the ability of Medicaid and Medicare to care for patients harmed by the opioid addiction epidemic. Democrats expressed skepticism about the committee's fast pace, the large number of bills being considered all at once, and Republican efforts to modify Medicaid. The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee wrapped up its examination of 34 bills on Thursday. In total, the subcommittee has discussed 67 bills over the course of three hearings with the goal of passing legislation through the full House by Memorial Day, according to full committee chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore. (Raman, 4/12)
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved a bipartisan disaster preparation bill Thursday over the objection of the water resources subcommittee chairman. ... The other bills and resolutions the committee considered, including a measure (HR 5294) to allow the Appalachian Regional Commission to address opioid abuse, passed by voice vote without any opposition. The opioid bill would allow the ARC to develop broadband infrastructure to support telemedicine, share best practices among states, and support programs to reduce harm to the workforce and economic growth from opioid addiction. (Fischler, 4/12)
And in other news on the crisis —
In 2015, when they unveiled the city’s plan to battle opioid-related deaths, Mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife, Chirlane McCray, said that from that day on, New Yorkers would be able to get the overdose-reversing drug naloxone at participating pharmacies without a prescription. “Anyone who fears they will one day find their child, spouse or sibling collapsed on the floor and not breathing now has the power to walk into a neighborhood pharmacy and purchase the medication that can reverse that nightmare,” Ms. McCray said, with the mayor by her side. (Correal, 4/12)
Bipartisan senators are calling on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to cease efforts by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to slow medical marijuana research. In a letter sent Thursday, Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said they are concerned by reports that the Justice Department is effectively blocking the DEA from taking action on more than two dozen requests to grow marijuana for use in research. (Weixel, 4/12)
Nearly two dozen Connecticut cities and towns are scheduled to soon confront Purdue Phama and other opioid makers in court over what they say are the pharmaceuticals’ deceptive practices. Meanwhile, a federal judge in Ohio is trying to resolve through a massive settlement more than 400 federal lawsuits brought by cities, counties and Native American tribes against central figures in the national opioid tragedy. (Radelat, 4/12)
