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posted by martyb on Saturday October 28 2017, @05:55PM   Printer-friendly
from the we-need-a-heroin dept.

"The best way to prevent drug addiction and overdose is to prevent people from abusing drugs in the first place. If they don't start, they won't have a problem." – President Donald J. Trump

President Trump has declared the "Opioid Crisis" a nationwide public health emergency. This action will allow for "expanded access to telemedicine services" to remotely prescribe medicines for substance abuse, allow the Department of Health and Human Services to "more quickly make temporary appointments of specialists with the tools and talent needed to respond effectively to our Nation's ongoing public health emergency", allow the Department of Labor to issue dislocated worker grants for those "displaced from the workforce" due to the Opioid Crisis, and will help people with HIV/AIDS to receive substance abuse treatment. The press release lists several actions that the Trump Administration has taken to respond to the Opioid Crisis, including the July 2017 law enforcement action against AlphaBay.

The declaration has been criticized for not requesting any funds to respond to the Crisis. The "nationwide public health emergency" declaration is also distinct from a promised "national emergency declaration", which would have freed up money from the Disaster Relief Fund to be spent on the Crisis. 14 Senate Democrats have introduced a bill that would authorize $45 billion to address the Opioid Crisis. The Obama Administration called on Congress last year to pass just over $1 billion in funding for opioid treatment programs nationwide. This funding was included in the 21st Century Cures Act.

The Department of Justice has arrested and charged the founder and majority owner of Insys Therapeutics Inc., John Kapoor, along with other executives from his company. Kapoor is accused with leading a nationwide conspiracy to bribe doctors and illegally distribute the company's fentanyl spray, intended for cancer patients, so that it could be prescribed for non-cancer patients. Kapoor stepped down as CEO of Insys in January. Acting U.S. Attorney William D. Weinreb said, "Mr. Kapoor and his company stand accused of bribing doctors to overprescribe a potent opioid and committing fraud on insurance companies solely for profit. Today's arrest and charges reflect our ongoing efforts to attack the opioid crisis from all angles. We must hold the industry and its leadership accountable - just as we would the cartels or a street-level drug dealer." Six former Insys executives and managers were charged in December.

[takyon: a262 would like you to know that Insys Therapeutics donated $500,000 to help defeat Arizona's 2016 ballot initiative that would have legalized recreational use of cannabis.]

Walgreens has announced that it will stock Narcan® (naloxone) nasal spray in all of its over 8,000 pharmacies nationwide. Naloxone is a life-saving essential medicine that can reverse opioid overdoses and treat opioid withdrawal. Naloxone is available over-the-counter in 45 states, but still requires a prescription in Hawaii, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, and Wyoming. Delaware recently allowed over-the-counter sales of naloxone. Laws in Hawaii and Missouri are pending, and Montana has agreed to grant CVS wider access to the drug.

Maybe banning kratom was a mistake.

Nationwide Public Health Emergency: Also at NYT, BBC, Reuters, and Fox News.

Insys Therapeutics Inc.: Also at NPR and Bloomberg.

Walgreens Narcan: Also at NPR, ABC, and CBS.

Previously: 4/20: The Third Time's Not the Charm
Jeff Sessions Reboots the Drug War
Development of a Heroin Vaccine
Goal of US's First Opioid Court: Keep People Alive
Chicago Jail Handing Out Naloxone to Inmates Upon Release


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by idiot_king on Saturday October 28 2017, @08:31PM (7 children)

    by idiot_king (6587) on Saturday October 28 2017, @08:31PM (#588787)

    He also foot-dragged on condemning actual Naz- Oh wait. He never condemned any Nazis for killing a woman at a White Supremacist rally.
    Meanwhile, Puerto Rico is without electricity and millions of undocumented citizens might have their livelihoods ripped from their hands because those voters he "foot-dragged" about hate brown people.
    You seemed to miss the word "platitudes," as in, he's a sociopath-racist who also simultaneously doesn't care about who he steps on as long as he sucks votes out of what's left of uneducated whites while keeping his educated, rich white friends in power. The biggest part of that is pretending those uneducated whites matter to him, because that's how he and his bigot-capitalist buddies stay in control.

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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 28 2017, @10:47PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 28 2017, @10:47PM (#588820)

    Look what's the point of "fixing" coal jobs or fixing opioid deaths if people think it's the other team's fault? Half the country thinks Obama destroyed the country. So long as it stays destroyed these are guaranteed votes. That's how they're playing everything. It's chaos. Nukes in North Korea? Not my fault. Here's some noise to fill the front 4 pages of the news this week.

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Sunday October 29 2017, @02:01AM (5 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday October 29 2017, @02:01AM (#588874) Journal

    Oh, FFS - one more time. As much as I detest Nazis, those particular Nazis were permitted to take part in a legal protest, and they were obeying the law. The bitch who was killed was a socialist activist who was there for the sole purpose of instigating a riot. Her fellow socialists attacked the Nazis. The socialists were using potentially deadly force. The Nazi in the car has a pretty valid case of "self defense". That defense may or may not work in court, but the fact is, he was under attack by the group that the socialist activist was attached to.

    Yes, Nazi evil. But, socialist equally evil. So, just fuck off with your whining about some dead socialist bitch.

    • (Score: 5, Touché) by c0lo on Sunday October 29 2017, @03:59AM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Sunday October 29 2017, @03:59AM (#588919) Journal

      The Nazi in the car has a pretty valid case of "self defense".

      Whatever you smoke, stop it, seems it leads in a bad trip and triggers paranoia at the end.

      Self defence require the presence of immediate danger - I find hard to believe that the idiot went back to his car and instead of escaping the danger (assuming he was in one) he heads back for quite a distance towards the crowd which supposedly threatened him [youtube.com].
      If that's a "self-defence" reaction, then I suppose him driving in reverse afterwards makes him offensive?

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday October 29 2017, @04:30AM (2 children)

      by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Sunday October 29 2017, @04:30AM (#588924) Journal

      If you weren't already going to hell, that post would have punched your ticket.

      --
      I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday October 29 2017, @10:01AM (1 child)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday October 29 2017, @10:01AM (#588982) Journal

        I'll be in good company with Arnaud Amalric, right? Except, I don't like Nazis or commies. Let them kill each other. Arnaud was willing to kill a bunch of his own, to ensure he got the other side. Isn't that worser? Or not?

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @05:41AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @05:41AM (#589352)

          Some people use standard time; others observe daylight saving time. Let the killing begin, eh?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @05:37AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @05:37AM (#589350)

      > The Nazi in the car has a pretty valid case of "self defense".

      You haven't seen the videos, I say hopefully.