Drugmakers fought domino effect of Washington opioid limits
8 years, 6 months ago

Drugmakers fought domino effect of Washington opioid limits

Associated Press  

When Washington state made one of the first major moves to place limits on opioid painkiller prescriptions, pharmaceutical companies fought back — using the Pain Care Forum, a national network of drug companies and opioid-friendly nonprofits, many of them funded by drugmakers. Alarm bells rang at the forum in 2007 after Washington state’s agency medical directors — spurred by overdose deaths of patients in the worker’s compensation system — drafted guidelines that would require pain specialists to approve high doses of opioids. Worried the guidelines would create a “domino effect” of other states adopting restrictive policies, the forum agreed to pay a public relations consultant $85,000 to prep speakers, draft patient testimonials and coordinate an educational initiative focused on elected officials and the state medical board, documents obtained by the Center for Public Integrity and The Associated Press reveal. The same internal memos show that advocates affiliated with the Pain Care Forum met with the Washington governor’s chief health adviser to discuss the “unintended consequences” of the guidelines.

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History of this topic

Washington state achieves bipartisan support to ban hog-tying by police and address opioid crisis
1 year ago

Washington state achieves bipartisan support to ban hog-tying by police and address opioid crisis

Associated Press  

SEATTLE — Over a busy, 60-day legislative session, Washington state lawmakers made strides to address the opioid crisis and ban a controversial policing practice with bipartisan support, but fell short in getting some of the most progressive bills across the finish line. The short session, which marked Jay Inslee’s final one as governor, ended Thursday with over 300 bills heading …

Chronic pain patients struggle to get opioid prescriptions filled, even as CDC eases guidelines
2 years ago

Chronic pain patients struggle to get opioid prescriptions filled, even as CDC eases guidelines

CNN  

KHN — Jessica Layman estimates she has called more than 150 doctors in the past few years in her search for someone to prescribe opioids for her chronic pain. The first CDC guidelines “put everybody on notice,” said Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, chair of the American Medical Association’s Substance Use and Pain Care Task Force. Taking into account the perspective of …

US agency softens opioid prescribing guidelines for doctors
2 years, 4 months ago

US agency softens opioid prescribing guidelines for doctors

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday softened its guidelines for U.S. doctors prescribing oxycodone and other opioid painkillers. Opioids painkillers can be addictive — even when used under doctors’ orders — and were identified as a big reason for a rise in U.S. drug overdoses that began more than two decades ago. Some modifications were …

Advocates seek more say in how opioid settlements are spent
2 years, 6 months ago

Advocates seek more say in how opioid settlements are spent

Associated Press  

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The tattoos on Billie Stafford’s hands — inspired by street art and full of references to her work helping prevent drug-related deaths — have become an indelible memorial to the friend who inked them and the opioid crisis that killed him in April. “They don’t have to come and write 20 names on a wall because everyone’s …

CDC proposes softer guidance on opioid prescriptions
3 years, 1 month ago

CDC proposes softer guidance on opioid prescriptions

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday proposed changing — and in some instances, softening — guidelines for U.S. doctors prescribing oxycodone and other opioid painkillers. But it also caused some doctors to become too quick to cut off patients taking prescription painkillers and too strict in keeping the drugs from patients who might benefit, CDC …

Op-Ed: Who is responsible for the opioid crisis, and who ultimately pays?
3 years, 8 months ago

Op-Ed: Who is responsible for the opioid crisis, and who ultimately pays?

LA Times  

Containers made to look like OxyContin prescription pill bottles in front of the Department of Health and Human Services as part of a 2019 protest against the government’s opioid prescription drug approval practices. Among the things that had mangled the lives of folks in the Bottoms was addiction to what everyone by then called “OC.” OC was an abbreviation for …

AP Interview: State AG pushes accountability in opioid cases
3 years, 9 months ago

AP Interview: State AG pushes accountability in opioid cases

Associated Press  

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has been a leader in the legal push to hold companies and individuals accountable for the U.S. opioid addiction and overdose epidemic, which has been linked to nearly 500,000 deaths over the last two decades. Healey was the first of many state attorneys general to sue individual members of the Sackler family who own Connecticut-based …

Who’s to blame for the nation’s opioid crisis? Massive trial may answer that question
5 years, 6 months ago

Who’s to blame for the nation’s opioid crisis? Massive trial may answer that question

LA Times  

Demonstrators hold pictures of loved ones lost to opioids during a protest at Purdue Pharma’s headquarters in Stamford, Conn., last year. Brand-name opioid makers Designed, manufactured and marketed prescription opioid drugs Purdue Pharma Inc., Johnson & Johnson and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Endo Pharmaceuticals, Allergan, Mallinckrodt Generic opioid makers Manufactured cheaper “copycat” opioid medications after the exclusivity rights of brand-name manufacturers expired …

Purdue Pharma sought to divert online readers from critical L.A. Times series on opioid crisis, records show
5 years, 7 months ago

Purdue Pharma sought to divert online readers from critical L.A. Times series on opioid crisis, records show

LA Times  

As the nation’s opioid crisis deepened over the last decade, drug makers and distributors worked to deflect attention from their own roles in creating widespread addiction, according to lawyers for hundreds of cities, counties, tribes and other entities suing key pharmaceutical industry players. Internal documents from 2016 show company officials discussed diverting online traffic away from a series of stories …

Data show many companies contributed to US opioid crisis
5 years, 8 months ago

Data show many companies contributed to US opioid crisis

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The maker of OxyContin has been cast as the chief villain in the nation’s opioid crisis. He also noted that the data shows that the places that received the most drugs per capita are the ones with the most overdoses per capita: “It really looks like wherever you spread the most gas, you get the most fires.” At …

Opioid-Makers Face Wave of Lawsuits in 2019
6 years, 2 months ago

Opioid-Makers Face Wave of Lawsuits in 2019

NPR  

Opioid-Makers Face Wave of Lawsuits in 2019 Enlarge this image John Moore/Getty Images John Moore/Getty Images The next 12 months might just redefine the way America thinks about and responds to the opioid epidemic that now claims more than 40,000 lives each year. Sponsor Message "Our next battle is to get the documents that are being produced made available to …

OxyContin creator being sued for 'significant role in causing opioid epidemic'
6 years, 6 months ago

OxyContin creator being sued for 'significant role in causing opioid epidemic'

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Following hundreds of lawsuits …

DOJ to support lawsuits against companies selling opioids
7 years ago

DOJ to support lawsuits against companies selling opioids

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Tuesday it will support local officials in hundreds of lawsuits against manufacturers and distributors of powerful opioid painkillers that are fueling the nation’s drug abuse crisis. The Justice Department will file a statement of interest in the multidistrict lawsuit, arguing the federal government has borne substantial costs as a result of the crisis that …

Drugmakers Spent Millions Promoting Opioids To Patient Groups, Senate Report Says
7 years, 1 month ago

Drugmakers Spent Millions Promoting Opioids To Patient Groups, Senate Report Says

NPR  

Drugmakers Spent Millions Promoting Opioids To Patient Groups, Senate Report Says Enlarge this image toggle caption Toby Talbot/AP Toby Talbot/AP Drugmakers gave millions of dollars to pain-treatment advocacy groups over a five-year period beginning in 2012, in effect promoting opioids to individuals most vulnerable to addiction, according to a new report released Monday by a U.S. senator. Sponsor Message Fueling …

Doctors In Maine Say Halt In OxyContin Marketing Comes '20 Years Late'
7 years, 1 month ago

Doctors In Maine Say Halt In OxyContin Marketing Comes '20 Years Late'

NPR  

Doctors In Maine Say Halt In OxyContin Marketing Comes '20 Years Late' Enlarge this image toggle caption George Frey/Bloomberg via Getty Images George Frey/Bloomberg via Getty Images The maker of OxyContin, one of the most prescribed and aggressively marketed opioid painkillers, will no longer tout the drug or any other opioids to doctors. The announcement, made Saturday, came as drugmaker …

Patient advocacy groups get kickbacks from opioid manufacturers, report says
7 years, 1 month ago

Patient advocacy groups get kickbacks from opioid manufacturers, report says

CNN  

Story highlights Five of the nation's largest opioid manufacturers paid patient advocacy groups nearly $9 million, report says Report is the latest part of a Senate investigation into the marketing and sales practices of opioid manufacturers CNN — A new report alleges that five of the United States’ largest opioid manufacturers paid patient advocacy groups nearly $9 million between 2012 …

Alabama Targets OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma In Opioid Suit
7 years, 1 month ago

Alabama Targets OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma In Opioid Suit

NPR  

Alabama Targets OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma In Opioid Suit Enlarge this image toggle caption Toby Talbot/AP Toby Talbot/AP Alabama filed a lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday against OxyContin producer Purdue Pharma LP claiming the drug company is fueling the opioid epidemic by deceptively marketing prescription painkillers. Marshall says Alabama targeted Purdue because the company supplies the majority of opioids …

Opioid crisis: States investigate manufacturers’ role
7 years, 9 months ago

Opioid crisis: States investigate manufacturers’ role

CNN  

Story highlights State attorneys general investigate manufacturers' role in opioid crisis About half of all opioid overdoses involve prescription drugs, CDC says CNN — A broad coalition of state attorneys general from across the country has partnered on a bipartisan committee to look into the marketing and sales practices of opioid manufacturers. Although the exact number of states participating in …

Drugmakers fought state opioid limits amid crisis
8 years, 6 months ago

Drugmakers fought state opioid limits amid crisis

Associated Press  

The makers of prescription painkillers have adopted a 50-state strategy that includes hundreds of lobbyists and millions in campaign contributions to help kill or weaken measures aimed at stemming the tide of prescription opioids, the drugs at the heart of a crisis that has cost 165,000 Americans their lives and pushed countless more to crippling addiction. The industry group Pharmaceutical …

Obama Administration Eases Restrictions On Doctors Who Treat Opioid Addiction
8 years, 8 months ago

Obama Administration Eases Restrictions On Doctors Who Treat Opioid Addiction

NPR  

Obama Administration Eases Restrictions On Doctors Who Treat Opioid Addiction Enlarge this image toggle caption Jamie Grill/Getty Images Jamie Grill/Getty Images The Obama administration is making it easier for people addicted to opioids to get treatment. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell announced new rules Wednesday to loosen restrictions on doctors who treat people addicted to heroin and opioid …

Senator calls for investigation of Purdue Pharma following Times story on OxyContin
8 years, 9 months ago

Senator calls for investigation of Purdue Pharma following Times story on OxyContin

LA Times  

A U.S. senator on Friday called for federal investigations of OxyContin’s manufacturer in response to a Los Angeles Times report that found the bestselling painkiller wears off early in many patients, exposing them to increased risk of addiction. “They raise questions about ongoing deception by Purdue, harm to the public, continued costs to the United States, and the availability of …

FDA Ratchets Down On Prescribing Of OxyContin And Other Opioids
11 years, 6 months ago

FDA Ratchets Down On Prescribing Of OxyContin And Other Opioids

NPR  

FDA Ratchets Down On Prescribing Of OxyContin And Other Opioids toggle caption Toby Talbot/Associated Press The Food and Drug Administration today took another step toward restricting use of OxyContin and other powerful and often-abused prescription pain medications. "The FDA is invoking its authority to require safety labeling changes and post-market studies to combat the crisis of misuse, abuse, addiction, overdose …

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