[Note: This posting is a continuation of a report on
the development of a civics unit of study.
This unit is directing students to formulate informed positions on the
opioid epidemic. It is being developed
in real time. Writer wants to express
gratitude to Wikipedia for identifying the bulk of the research this blog has
used in the development of this unit.[1]]
This blog is currently
reviewing the various reactions by the federal government in relation to the
opioid crisis. This posting will
continue this review by listing further factoids. Here are those factoids:
·
In the last posting, Tom Marino was identified as being
nominated by the Trump Administration to be the new “drug czar.” This was disrupted, on October 17, 2017, when
Marino withdrew his name for further consideration. He cited the fact he had had a long-lasting
relationship with the drug industry and this could be used to accuse him as
having a conflict of interest.[2]
·
Scott Gottlieb, FDA commissioner, finally declared, in July 2017,
that dispensing and prescribing agents – pharmacists, nurses, and doctors –
were to have appropriate training in prescribing opioids. The commissioner cited the epidemic problem
and summarized his concern by classifying opioid addiction as the “FDA’s
biggest crisis.”[3]
·
Also, as one could judge over-due, the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS), issued a strategy to meet the crisis. Its “Opioid Strategy” identified five
aims. Here are those aims as stated by
HHS:
-
Improve access to
prevention, treatment, and recovery support services to prevent the health,
social, and economic consequences associated with opioid addiction and to
enable individuals to achieve long-term recovery;
-
Target the availability
and distribution of overdose-reversing drugs to ensure the broad provision of
these drugs to people likely to experience or respond to an overdose, with a
particular focus on targeting high-risk populations;
-
Strengthen public health
data reporting and collection to improve the timeliness and specificity of data
and to inform a real-time public health response as the epidemic evolves;
-
Support cutting-edge
research that advances our understanding of pain and addiction, leads to the
development of new treatments, and identifies effective public health
interventions to reduce opioid-related health harms; and
-
Advance the practice of pain management to enable access to
high-quality, evidence-based pain care that reduces the burden of pain for
individuals, families, and society while also reducing the inappropriate use of
opioids and opioid-related harms.[4]
·
Using another approach, the FDA began to regulate the producers
of long-acting opioids. These businesses
were required to provide educational programs so that prescribers would have
the information to prevent off-label[5]
and to prevent over-prescribing. Despite
this move, there does not seem to be sufficient evidence that this stated
policy has been effective.[6]
·
The reported grant program (reported in the last posting),
SAMHSA begins administrating it in July 2017.
It did this by issuing plans developed by the National Academy of
Sciences. In that report, the academy points
out that 91 people die every day of the opioid addiction epidemic.[7] Eventually in 2017, SAMHSA started issuing
grants. The whole program is set up for
a two-year run and provides grants totaling $485 million to states and territories
of the US. As the authorizing
legislation – the 21st Century Cures Act – sets out, the aim of the
grants is to prevent and combat opioid over-use and the resulting addiction.[8]
That
ends what this blog is prepared to report regarding the federal government’s
reaction to the opioid crisis. Next, the
blog will address various countermeasures in the form of medical practices.
[1] The writer
also wants to state that where possible, he has checked the sources and has at
times added to the listed research.
[2] Peter Baker, “Tom Marino, Drug Czar Nominee,
Withdraws in Latest Setback for Trump’s Opioid Fight,” The New York Times, October 17, 2017, accessed August 16, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/17/us/politics/trump-says-drug-czar-nominee-tom-marino-withdraws-from-consideration.html?_r=0
AND Bill Whitaker (correspondent), “Ex-DEA Agent: Opioid Crisis Fueled by Drug Industry and
Congress,” CBS’ 60 Minutes, October
17, 2017, accessed August 16, 2018, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-dea-agent-opioid-crisis-fueled-by-drug-industry-and-congress/
.
[3] “FDA’s Scott Gottlieb: Opioid Addiction Is FDA’s Biggest Crisis
Now,” CNBC, July 21, 2017, accessed August 16, 2018, https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/07/21/fdas-scott-gottlieb-opioid-addiction-is-fdas-biggest-crisis-now.html
.
[4] Nora Volkow (presenter), “Federal Efforts to Combat
the Opioid Crisis: A Status Update on
CARA and Other Initiatives,” National Institute on Drug Abuse, October 25,2017,
accessed August 16, 2018, https://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/legislative-activities/testimony-to-congress/2017/federal-efforts-to-combat-opioid-crisis-status-update-cara-other-initiatives
.
[5] Google defines “off-label” as follows: relating to the prescription of a drug for a
condition other than that for which it has been officially approved. See https://www.google.com/search?q=what+does+the+term+off-label+mean&oq=what+does+the+term+off-label+mean&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.13540j1j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
, accessed August 16, 2018.
[6] Andrew A. Kolodny, David T. Courtwright, Catherine S.
Hwnag, Peter Kreener, John L. Eadie, Thomas W. Clark, and George Caleb
Alexander, “The Prescription Opioid and Heroin Crisis: A Public Health Approach to an Epidemic of
Addiction,” Annual Review of Public
Health, vol. 36, 559-574, 2015, accessed August 16, 2018, https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122957
.
[7] Dina Fine Maron, “Major Science Report Lays Out a
Plan to Tamp Down Opioid Crisis,” Scientific American, July 13, 2017, accessed
August 16, 2018, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/major-science-report-lays-out-a-plan-to-tamp-down-opioid-crisis/
.
[8] Nora Volkow (presenter), “Federal Efforts to Combat
the Opioid Crisis: A Status Update on
CARA and Other Initiatives.”
