Join the CEPOP April All-Participants Meeting at 3PM Eastern

CEPOP will be hosting its April All-Participants Teleconference today at 3:00pm EST. Today’s meeting will include presentations from Nandini Narayan of Congressman Chris Pappas’ office on an upcoming opioid trafficking prevention bill and Jeremiah Lindemann of Esri on the new Opioid Epidemic Outreach solution. Please contact Sanjyot Sangodkar for meeting details.

White House’s Drug Control Strategy Focuses on Addiction Treatment and Drug Trafficking

Last week, the White House released their National Drug Control Strategy, a collaboration between agencies that focuses on untreated addiction and drug trafficking, two areas the Biden Administration considers as drivers of the opioid epidemic. The plan aims to implement programs that will expand access to evidence-based treatments and recovery programs; expand harm reduction interventions such as naloxone, drug test and syringe services; improve research, data collection and analysis to inform drug policy development; disrupt the financial activities of transnational criminal organizations that manufacture and traffic illicit drugs; and increase domestic and international collaborations to reduce the supply of illicit drugs. The new strategy aligns with previous ONDCP and Department of Health and Human Services efforts that have focused on expanding evidence-based prevention, treatment, recovery, and drug supply reduction approaches.

Articles & Resources

National Drug Control Strategy

The White House – FACT SHEET: White House Releases 2022 National Drug Control Strategy that Outlines Comprehensive Path Forward to Address Addiction and the Overdose Epidemic

FDA Considers Drug Mail-Back Plan, Seeks Public Comments

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that is it considering a safe disposal plan that would modify the existing Opioid Analgesic Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS). The proposed plan would require that free, postage paid mail-back envelopes be included with all opioid analgesics dispensed at outpatient settings. The mail-back envelopes would be regulated to ensure that they are fit-for-purpose and designed to transport opioid analgesics safely and securely from patients’ homes to Drug Enforcement Administration-registered facilities, eliminating the need for patients to utilize at-home disposal methods and reducing exposures to unused medications. The plan would also require that pharmacists provide patient education on disposal options and complete REMS-mandated training and certification. Public comments are due June 21, 2022 and can be submitted here.

Articles & Resources

FDA – FDA Considers New Approach to Improve Safe Disposal of Prescription Opioid Analgesics, Decrease Unnecessary Exposure to Unused Medication

What We Read Last Week

Several articles were published last week pertaining to the opioid epidemic, covering a variety of different components of the topic. Links to relevant articles are provided below.

AJMC – Contributor: Reform Medicare’s Payment Policy to Expand Patient Access to Nonopioids

FDA – Where and How to Dispose of Unused Medicines

Psychiatric Times – Naloxone as a Tool to Fight the Opioid Epidemic

STAT – Medicine needs to do right by patients prescribed opioids

The Wall Street Journal – J&J Settles With West Virginia in Opioid Suit for $99 Million

This Week’s Calendar

  • House Committee on Oversight and Reform
    Hearing On “McKinsey & Company’s Conduct and Conflicts at the Heart of the Opioid Epidemic”
    Wednesday, April 27th ; 10:00 a.m.; Hearing Notice

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