Synthetic Painkiller Fentanyl Is The Latest Wave In Drug Epidemic
The drug, which can be 50 times more powerful than heroin and up to 100 times more potent than morphine, is causing, in some places, more deaths than heroin. “For the cartels, it’s their drug of choice,” says Maura Healey, the attorney general of Massachusetts. “They have figured out a way to make fentanyl more cheaply and easily than heroin and are manufacturing it at a record pace.”
The New York Times:
Heroin Epidemic Is Yielding To A Deadlier Cousin: Fentanyl
When Eddie Frasca was shooting up heroin, he occasionally sought out its more potent, lethal cousin, fentanyl. “It was like playing Russian roulette, but I didn’t care,” said Mr. Frasca, 30, a carpenter and barber who said he had been clean for four months. When he heard that someone had overdosed or even died from fentanyl, he would hunt down that batch. Fentanyl, which looks like heroin, is a powerful synthetic painkiller that has been laced into heroin but is increasingly being sold by itself — often without the user’s knowledge. (Seelye, 3/25)
In other national health care news —
The Associated Press:
Federal Officials, Advocates Push Pill-Tracking Databases
The nation's top health officials are stepping up calls to require doctors to log in to pill-tracking databases before prescribing painkillers and other high-risk drugs. The move is part of a multi-pronged strategy by the Obama administration to tame an epidemic of abuse and death tied to opioid painkillers like Vicodin and OxyContin. But physician groups see a requirement to check databases before prescribing popular drugs for pain, anxiety and other ailments as being overly burdensome. (3/28)
The New York Times:
Investing For Your Future Health Care
Ken Dychtwald, who is 65 and is the chief executive officer of Age Wave, a consulting and research company focused on aging, decided in his 50s that he and his wife should buy long-term care insurance so they wouldn’t be a burden on each other or their children if they became ill or disabled. Mark V. Pauly, 74, a professor of health care management, business economics and public policy at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, considered long-term care insurance and decided against it. Both are experts in the field of aging and both understand, more than most, the potential cost of paying for care in later years. But they took different paths in addressing those needs. (Tugend, 3/25)
The New York Times:
Health Savings Accounts: Unloved, But Worthwhile
Health savings accounts offer a rare, triple-tax benefit to those who are able to contribute and who qualify to save for future medical needs — which, among other things, means having a health insurance plan with a deductible of at least $1,300. Money goes into an H.S.A. tax-free, grows tax-free and is withdrawn tax-free, if spent on eligible medical costs. Yet some people find it difficult to commit to building up an H.S.A. to save for health needs. (Carrns, 3/25)
The Associated Press:
Leading Private-Sector Health System Woos Veterans In Ads
A leading hospital system in the U.S. is courting military veterans with a multimillion-dollar ad campaign, raising concerns from some veterans groups that private sector marketing could weaken the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system. The campaign tag lines — "Veterans have a choice in healthcare" and "You honored your oath, and so do we" — emphasize consumer preference and the shared values of medical professionals and the military. (3/25)