President* Donald Trump will declare the nation's painkiller-addiction crisis a public health emergency.We shall see. But, given that Trump is already in the process of gutting health care, including rural health care, I don't see how this is going to be anything other than eyewash.
Mr Trump will announce a plan to target the abuse of opioids, which kill more than 140 Americans each day, in an address at the White House.
The president has previously promised to declare a national emergency, which would have triggered federal funding to help states combat the drug epidemic.
The move instead redirects grant money to be used in dealing with the crisis.
If there is no serious effort to address the shortage of treatment centers for drug addiction, then this is just another moronic PR stunt.
Meanwhile:
U.S. prosecutors brought a fraud and racketeering case Thursday against the founder of an opioid medication maker that has faced increasing scrutiny from authorities across the country over allegations of pushing prescriptions of powerful painkillers amid a drug epidemic that is claiming thousands of lives each year.It's not Purdue Pharma and its owners, but it's a start.
The charges against Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor came on the same day that President* Donald Trump was expected to declare the opioid crisis a nationwide public health emergency.
The real sin of Kapoor is that, unlike the Sackler Clan, he probably didn't
He's got one of them furrin names, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm skeptical, but I know that I'm always skeptical where he's concerned, so I'll wait and see what happens. Anything is likely to be better than nothing, but the devil will be in the details, as they say.
ReplyDeleteWe're lucky here in the East Bay because we have Highland Hospital, the county hospital and self acknowledged "resource of the last resort" for the folks who would otherwise die in the gutter after an OD, or a drug-related health crisis.
They're a top flight place, and I get all of my healthcare from them: my doctor is in their adult medicine clinic, and in 2014 he got me on the waiting list for cataract surgery in the ophthalmology clinic, and god damn it's good to not be blind.
So you're absolutely right about the rural areas where budget cuts might decimate the network of health centers that were funded by the ACA, and rely on Medicaid for their funding.
-Doug in Oakland
Trumpster sez that his feelings about drugs and booze is because of Bro Fred. Ain't it possible that the disdain and familial humiliation on his choice of a career in aviation (" That's the same as a bus driver") voiced by daddy trump and channeled by sonny had something to do with it??
ReplyDeleteAll I see is another layer of bureaucracy between me and my proscribed medication. They just this month required me to go with a weekly refill? My script is for 2 a day, so my health plan covers 7 days at 6 pills a day, and the remaining 18 a week later? I live remotely enough that I only get to town more than twice a month in a busy month. Another layer of crap between me and my meds, and this was before 'the Cheetolini's' declaration.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to imagine what is next. Daily dispensation of my two pills at a doctors office? They are all of a half grain of codeine with a super slug of Tylenol, not like I am able to OD on this script even if I tried.
Thanks for nothing you worriers. There are some of us that don't have a problem, we just use Opioids as designed and proscribed and "we" are the ones that get caught up with this "epidemic" moniker.
w3ski
As I've said in the blog intro, there is almost no problem that Congress can't make much worse.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't about opioids, but it's still worth the read. The parallels are obvious.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the only outcome of this newly declared emergency is going to be a new push to jail more blacks.
ReplyDeleteAdrian, that pretty much goes without saying. It was one of the reasons why Nixon declared the original war on drugs in `70
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