Former DEA Officials Urge Repeal Of 2016 Law That Stripped Agency Of Its Most Potent Weapon
“This bill basically tore the heart out of the diversion program,” one official told senators Tuesday. In other opioid-related news, the expanding profession of opioid recovery coaches raises questions.
The Washington Post:
Former DEA Officials Call For Repeal Of Law That Weakened Enforcement
Three former Drug Enforcement Administration officials urged Democratic lawmakers Tuesday to repeal a 2016 law that effectively took away the agency’s most potent weapon against distributors and manufacturers of prescription opioids. The trio said the authority to instantly freeze shipments of powerful painkillers was the DEA’s most effective tool against giant companies that ignored legal requirements to report suspicious orders of the pills by pharmacies, doctors and others who diverted them for illegal use. Those “immediate suspension orders” not only protected the public from the most egregious abuse but deterred other companies as well, they said at a session held by Senate Democrats. (Bernstein and Higham, 11/28)
Boston Globe:
Questions Arise Over Profession Spawned By Opioid Crisis: Recovery Coaches
[Katie] O’Leary, who works for the North Suffolk Mental Health Association, belongs to a new profession whose role is expanding amid the opioid crisis. But as the use of recovery coaches grows, so do the questions: Who are they exactly? What qualifies them to do this work? What are the boundaries of their practice? (Freyer, 11/28)