Drug Distributors Summoned To Testify In Front Of Congress About Their Role In Opioid Epidemic

The Washington Post: The Opioid Crisis: Drug Executives To Testify Before Congress About Their Role In Distributing Powerful Painkillers
Current and former executives with the pharmaceutical distributors that are accused of flooding communities with powerful prescription painkillers have been summoned to testify before Congress about their role in the U.S. opioid epidemic. The hearing, scheduled for May 8 before a House Energy and Commerce Committee oversight panel, has the potential to be a defining moment for the pharmaceutical industry, much like when tobacco executives were called to testify before Congress in 1994. The pharmaceutical executives are expected to face tough questions under oath about why their companies pumped so many highly addictive pain pills into West Virginia and other states, fueling what has become the deadliest drug crisis in U.S. history. (Zezima and Higham, 4/12)

In other national health care news —

The Associated Press: Opioid Trials To Begin In 2019 As Settlement Is Also Pushed
A federal judge with an audacious plan to settle hundreds of lawsuits filed by local governments against the drug industry over the destruction wrought by prescription opioid painkillers has altered his course. Cleveland-based Judge Dan Polster issued an order Wednesday scheduling three Ohio trials for 2019 — a shift from his earlier plan to try to work out settlements without also preparing for trials. (4/12)

The New York Times: Overdose Antidote Is Supposed To Be Easy To Get. It’s Not.
In 2015, when they unveiled the city’s plan to battle opioid-related deaths, Mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife, Chirlane McCray, said that from that day on, New Yorkers would be able to get the overdose-reversing drug naloxone at participating pharmacies without a prescription. “Anyone who fears they will one day find their child, spouse or sibling collapsed on the floor and not breathing now has the power to walk into a neighborhood pharmacy and purchase the medication that can reverse that nightmare,” Ms. McCray said, with the mayor by her side. (Correal, 4/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Health Workers’ New Advocate Sees Objection To Abortion As A Civil Right
The Trump administration is pursuing a significant shift toward a more conservative health-care agenda, expanding the use of civil-rights laws to defend health-industry workers who object to medical procedures on religious grounds. Roger Severino, an administration appointee to the Department of Health and Human Services, is heading a new division at the department that will shield health-care workers who object to abortion, assisted suicide, or other procedures they say violate their conscience or deeply held religious beliefs. HHS has proposed rules that would expand the division’s enforcement ability and require many health organizations to inform workers about their federal protections regarding personal faith or convictions. (Armour, 4/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Two Women Spotlight Two Sides Of Abortion Debate
The Trump administration’s push toward a more conservative approach to health policy has sparked a debate over what patients can expect from their health workers, and when health workers can refuse service for reasons of conscience. Both supporters and opponents bolster their arguments with testimonials, such as the two that follow. The first is an example of what conservative activists say is a health worker forced to assist in a procedure that ran counter to her beliefs. The second is an example of what liberal activists say are religious organizations imposing their views on others. (Armour, 4/13)

The Associated Press: $1 Million Federal Grant Will Help Study Of Transgender Kids
The first large-scale, national study of transgender children, including some as young as 3, is poised to expand thanks to a five-year, $1 million grant awarded Thursday by the National Science Foundation to the professor leading the project. University of Washington psychologist Kristina Olson, 36, was named winner of the NSF's annual Alan T. Waterman Award, the government's highest honor for scientists still in the early phases of their careers. The NSF said the choice was unanimous, and noted that pediatricians are already using her findings to raise awareness about gender diversity. (4/12)

The Associated Press: Red Flag Laws May Prevent More Suicides Than Mass Shootings
Before her brother took his own life, Mary Miller-Strobel said she and her father begged every store in town that sold firearms to turn him away. “’If he comes, call me,’” Miller-Strobel said her dad pleaded while waving her brother’s picture at store managers in Charlotte, Michigan, in 2006. “’Just call me. I will come.’” She said the responses were the same: “’Second amendment, sorry.’” Two months later, her brother, Ben, shot himself with a revolver. (Yin, 4/12)

The Associated Press: When To Say When: Study Says Limit Alcohol To 1 Drink A Day
Here's some sobering news: A large international study says adults should average no more than one alcoholic drink per day, and that means drinking guidelines in many countries may be far too loose. The study found that people who down more than seven drinks a week can expect to die sooner than those who drink less. (4/12)