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The federal government will spend a record $4.6 billion this year to fight the nation's deepening opioid crisis, which killed 42,000 Americans in 2016. But some advocates say the funding included in the spending plan the president signed Friday is not nearly enough to establish the kind of treatment system needed to reverse the crisis. A White House report last fall put the cost to the country of the overdose epidemic at more than $500 billion a year. (Mulvihill, 3/25)

The White House’s national strategy to combat the opioid crisis, unveiled last week, would expand a particular kind of addiction treatment in federal criminal justice settings: a single drug, manufactured by a single company, with mixed views on the evidence regarding its use. Federal prisons should “facilitate naltrexone treatment and access to treatment” to inmates as they transition out of incarceration, according to a fact sheet circulated by the administration. A White House spokesman later confirmed to STAT that the document referred specifically to naltrexone in its injectable form. (Facher, 3/26)

From California to Vermont, mobile methadone vans have served people with opioid addiction in rural towns and underserved inner-city neighborhoods for nearly three decades. But the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which regulates dispensing of the FDA-approved addiction medicine, has refused to license any new methadone vans since 2007 over concerns about potential diversion of the medication. Now, in an unrelenting opioid epidemic that is killing more than a hundred Americans every day, some state and local addiction agencies are asking the federal government to lift its moratorium as quickly as possible. (Vestal, 3/23)

The sponsor of a House bill to boost Minnesota’s fight against opioid abuse has stripped a penny-per-pill fee from the plan in hopes of keeping the legislation alive. State Rep. Dave Baker, a Republican from Wilmar whose son Dan died of a drug overdose, has been a strong advocate of such a fee on prescription opioids to help battle the growing problem of overdoses. (Magan, 3/23)

Hospitals across Minnesota have been scrambling to cope with a nationwide shortage of injectable opioid painkillers. “The supply is just inconsistent,” said Gina Lemke, pharmacy director at St. Luke’s hospital in Duluth. “We can’t place an order and trust that it’s going to arrive.” Given the effort to cut down on the number of opioids that are prescribed, it may seem ironic that there’s a shortage of some opioids used in an injectable form. But in that setting, opioids still perform a needed function, pharmacists say. (Lundy, 3/23)

The youngest victims of the opioid epidemic in Louisiana could be helped by a proposal headed for a full vote at the House of Representatives on March 29. Authored by Sen. Walt Leger, HB 658 proposes the creation of a neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) pilot project within the state's Department of Health. Infants born with this condition often experience withdrawal after birth, resulting in side effects such as sweating, trembling, vomiting, seizures and trouble sleeping. The project aims to establish a multi-disciplinary team within the department that will guide best treatment options for babies born in withdrawal from opiates. (Clark, 3/24)

The federal government will spend a record $4.6 billion this year to fight the nation’s deepening opioid crisis, which killed 42,000 Americans in 2016. But some advocates say the funding included in the spending plan the president signed Friday is not nearly enough to establish the kind of treatment system needed to reverse the crisis. (Mulvihill, 3/25)

Days after President Donald Trump announced he wanted tougher penalties for drug dealers and stronger border protection, two Trump administration officials announced new federal money for addiction research and job training for people affected by the opioid crisis and those working in mental health and addiction services. Meanwhile, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine touted the benefits of chiropractic care and alternative therapies to manage pain. (Borchardt, 3/23)