Join the CEPOP February All-Participants Meeting at 3PM Eastern
CEPOP will be hosting its February All-Participants Teleconference today at 3:00pm EST. Today’s meeting will include presentations from Laura Bart of Congressman Josh Gottheimer’s office on an upcoming opioid prevention bill and Admiral James Winnefeld of the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking on the Commission’s recently released report.
CEPOP All-Participants Teleconference (February 2022)
- To join WebEx, please CLICK HERE
- Or, to join via conference call:
- Conference Line: (855) 244-8681
- Participant Code: 299 655 082
J&J, Opioid Distributors Finalize $26B Settlement
Last week, Johnson & Johnson and three opioid distributors, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson, finalized a $26 billion settlement agreement with states. Under the agreement, the opioid distributors would be responsible for paying the bulk of the settlement – $21 billion over 18 years – while Johnson & Johnson would be required to pay $5 billion over nine years to resolve claims that the company illegally marketed opioids. Johnson & Johnson would also be permanently prohibited from manufacturing and selling opioids and AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson would be required to create and fund an opioid dose clearinghouse that tracks opioid doses and alerts drug regulators to suspicious opioid orders. More than 40 state governments have passed laws and developed frameworks to guide how funds should be allocated and used. The money from the settlement is expected to fund opioid treatment, prevention, and education programs.
Articles & Resources
The Washington Post – Major drug distributors and J&J finalize opioid settlement, launching nationwide funding
Associated Press – J&J, distributors finalize $26B landmark opioid settlement
What We Read Last Week
Several articles were published last week pertaining to the opioid epidemic, covering a variety of different components of the issue. Links to relevant articles are provided below.
Associated Press – J&J, distributors finalize $26B landmark opioid settlement
Health Affairs – Mobile Van Medication-Assisted Treatment For Opioid Use Disorder Is Not Enough
IBT – Numbers Indicate The Opioid Crisis Is Here To Stay
Kaiser Health News – ‘Injections, Injections, Injections’: Troubling Questions Follow Closure of Sprawling Pain Clinic Chain
Law360 – Sacklers Offer Another $1.6B For Purdue Ch. 11 Settlement
NPR – Corporate opioid payouts now being finalized would top $32 billion
Roll Call – Lawmakers face pressure to pass mental health legislation
The American Journal of Psychiatry – Effects of County-Level Opioid Dispensing Rates on Individual-Level Patterns of Prescription Opioid and Heroin Consumption: Evidence From National U.S. Data
The Hill – What the COVID pandemic can teach us about the drug pandemic
The Lancet – Responding to the opioid crisis in North America and beyond: recommendations of the Stanford–Lancet Commission
The Lancet Public Health – Estimating naloxone need in the USA across fentanyl, heroin, and prescription opioid epidemics: a modelling study
The New York Times – Uproar Over ‘Crack Pipes’ Puts Biden Drug Strategy at Risk
The Washington Post – Social workers are the unsung heroes of the pandemic
This Week’s Calendar
House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Hearing: “Lessons from the Frontline: COVID-19’s Impact on American Health Care” Wednesday, March 2nd; 10:30 a.m.; Hearing Notice
Questions about the above content can be directed to sanjyot.sangodkar@