A new phenomenon has emerged in the United States: 64,000 people died in 2016 of a drug overdose—with 80% from opioids—with levels of addiction nearly 500% higher over the last six years.
Behind this epidemic is a multi-billion dollar industry, that feeds drug manufacturing giants, distributors and more.
As communities nationwide grapple with opioid addiction, Texas and a coalition of 40 other states have served investigative subpoenas and other requests to eight companies that manufacture or distribute prescription painkillers, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Tuesday.
It’s the latest development in an investigation unveiled in June. Paxton and his counterparts are trying to determine whether opioid manufacturers played a role in creating or prolonging what has become a national epidemic.
In a report, the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) is calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to review the safety and effectiveness of opioid painkillers. The panel of experts says monumental changes are needed to the way in which physicians treat pain, their patients cope with pain, and government and private insurers support individuals’ treatment for chronic pain. [1]
(Photo: Chris Potter/StockMonkeys.com/Flickr)
The California Senate has voted to ban drug manufacturers from incentivizing doctors with gifts. This was accompanied by evidence that over $1.4 billion was spent last year on gifts to Californian doctors, including expensive meals and airline tickets.
It used to be that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Times have certainly changed; now (for decades, actually) the physicians across America have new guidance for adults. More than half are on a daily dosage of low-dose aspirin in order to address various life-threatening illnesses and/or diseases.
Good health translates into zero profit for the pharmaceutical industry. General well-being of the public and cures for disease would mean the collapse of the pharmaceutical industry since they must have illness to have demand for their drugs, in order to exist. This…Read more →
