FDA Ramps Up Efforts To Stop Flood Of Synthetic Opioids Coming Into U.S. Through Postal Service
Members of Congress also are trying to address the mail issue. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) is pushing a bipartisan bill called the STOP Act, which would require foreign postal services to provide electronic security data on all packages shipped to the United States.
The Washington Post:
FDA To Step Up Targeting Of Fentanyl, Other Synthetic Opioids At Postal Facilities
The Food and Drug Administration is strengthening efforts to detect opioids illegally entering the country through the mail, reflecting heightened concerns about the flood of synthetic fentanyl and similar drugs being shipped from China and elsewhere. Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, in internal remarks to a group of senior managers Thursday, said he was deploying about three dozen employees to international mail facilities run by the U.S. Postal Service to help detect and analyze suspicious packages, as well as to the FDA’s cybercrime and forensic-chemistry units. (McGinley, 8/4)
In other national health care news —
USA Today:
Troops At Risk For Suicide Not Getting Needed Care, Report Finds
Pentagon health care providers failed to perform critical follow-up for many troops diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic stress syndrome who also were at high risk for suicide, according to a new study released Monday by the RAND Corp. Just 30% of troops with depression and 54% with PTSD received appropriate care after they were deemed at risk of harming themselves. The report, commissioned by the Pentagon, looked at the cases of 39,000 troops who had been diagnosed in 2013 with depression, PTSD or both conditions. USA TODAY received an advance copy of the report. (Brook, 8/7)
The Washington Post:
Convicted ‘Pharma Bro’ Has An Image Problem, Lawyer Concedes
Martin Shkreli, the eccentric former pharmaceutical CEO notorious for a price-gouging scandal and for his snide “Pharma Bro” persona on social media, was convicted Friday on federal charges he deceived investors in a pair of failed hedge funds. A Brooklyn jury deliberated five days before finding Shkreli guilty on three of eight counts. He had been charged with securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. (Hays and Neumeister, 8/4)
The New York Times:
Gene Editing For ‘Designer Babies’? Highly Unlikely, Scientists Say
Now that science is a big step closer to being able to fiddle with the genes of a human embryo, is it time to panic? Could embryo editing spiral out of control, allowing parents to custom-order a baby with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s imagination or Usain Bolt’s speed? (Belluck, 8/4)