America Is ‘Beginning To Turn The Tide’ On Opioid Epidemic, HHS Secretary Says Following Dip In Overdose Deaths
HHS Secretary Alex Azar cautioned that the battle is not over, but that the 2.8 percent drop in deaths toward the end of last year and beginning of this one showed that the country is making progress. Azar also unveiled a first-of-its-kind pilot program designed to help mothers with opioid addiction and their children. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is scheduled to sign a sweeping opioids package that lawmakers pushed through Congress this fall.
Politico:
U.S. 'Turning The Tide' On The Opioid Crisis, Health Secretary Says
The U.S. is beginning to turn the tide on the opioid epidemic, HHS Secretary Alex Azar said Tuesday, pointing to new federal data showing a slight dip in overdose deaths last year. Preliminary CDC data released last week shows drug overdose deaths, which spiked in 2017, dropped 2.8 percent toward the end of last year and the beginning of 2018. Azar credited federal, state and local efforts, one day before President Donald Trump will sign overwhelmingly bipartisan legislation to address the opioid crisis. (Ehley, 10/23)
The Associated Press:
US Health Chief Says Overdose Deaths Beginning To Level Off
"We are so far from the end of the epidemic, but we are perhaps, at the end of the beginning," Azar said at a health care event sponsored by the Milken Institute think tank. Confronting the opioid epidemic has been the rare issue uniting Republicans and Democrats in a politically divided nation. A bill providing major funding for treatment was passed under former President Barack Obama. More money followed earlier this year under President Donald Trump. And on Wednesday Trump is expected to sign bipartisan legislation passed this month that increases access to treatment, among other steps. (10/23)
The Hill:
Drug Overdose Deaths Have Hit 'Plateau' Health Chief Says
Trump will sign a sweeping, bipartisan comprehensive opioid bill on Wednesday, which Azar said will provide a wide variety of tools to help combat the epidemic. The bill creates new programs, and expands and reauthorizes existing programs across almost every federal agency, which are aimed at addressing all aspects of the opioid epidemic, like prevention, treatment and recovery. (Weixel, 10/23)
The Washington Post:
Feds Will Aid Infants And Mothers Affected By The Opioid Epidemic
The Trump administration is stepping up aid for infants and mothers caught in the opioid epidemic, promising to help states cope with some of the worst collateral damage of the drug crisis, according to prepared remarks scheduled for delivery Tuesday by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar. (Bernstein, 10/23)
Politico:
Meth And Cocaine Complicate Trump's War On Drugs
President Donald Trump will tout his response to the opioid crisis when he signs a sweeping bipartisan bill this week, but other drug-related deaths are on the rise and little is being done to address the broader scourge of addiction. Fatalities from misuse of methamphetamine, cocaine and benzodiazapines have surged while Washington’s latest efforts to fight drug addiction funnel new money and resources almost exclusively to localities ravaged by the opioid crisis or pay for treatments and overdose-reversal drugs that don't work for stimulants. (Ehley, 10/23)