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CVS is finally trying to do something about the opioid epidemic:
Drug-store chain CVS Health announced Thursday that it will limit opioid prescriptions in an effort to combat the epidemic that accounted for 64,000 overdose deaths last year alone.
Amid pressure on pharmacists, doctors, insurers and drug companies to take action, CVS also said it would boost funding for addiction programs, counseling and safe disposal of opioids.
[...] The company's prescription drug management division, CVS Caremark, which provides medications to nearly 90 million people, said it would use its sweeping influence to limit initial opioid prescriptions to seven-day supplies for new patients facing acute ailments.
It will instruct pharmacists to contact doctors when they encounter prescriptions that appear to offer more medication than would be deemed necessary for a patient's recovery. The doctor would be asked to revise it. Pharmacists already reach out to physicians for other reasons, such as when they prescribe medications that aren't covered by a patient's insurance plan.
The plan also involves capping daily dosages and initially requiring patients to get versions of the medications that dispense pain relief for a short period instead of a longer duration.
[...] "The whole effort here is to try to reduce the number of people who are going to end up with some sort of opioid addiction problem," CVS Chief Medical Officer Troyen Brennan said in an interview.
It appears this initiative is limited to initial filling of prescriptions — there is no mention of changes in the handling of refills.
(Score: 5, Informative) by c0lo on Monday September 25 2017, @03:51PM (2 children)
Because pharma tricked the FDA into thinking OxyContin is not-addictive [nih.gov]. Then it tricked them to approve packaging of higher doses.
And misrepresented the safety of the drug, admitted doing so and paid "$600 million in one of the largest pharmaceutical settlements in U.S. history." [wikipedia.org]
To the point now you have a horde of former patient doing doctor shopping [nih.gov] to satisfy their addiction.
Am easier to read story here [theweek.com]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @07:32PM (1 child)
the fda has a revolving door with big pharma. if you want to delude yourself that the FDA's whoring is a big accident then noone can stop you. enjoy your rose colored glasses.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday September 25 2017, @09:29PM
Willingly or unwillingly tricked, does it matter in the end for how much you can trust them?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford