Trump administration proposes production quota cuts for six opioids
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Trump administration on Thursday proposed that U.S. drugmakers cut production quotas of the six most abused opioids by 10 percent next year to fight a nationwide addiction crisis.
In a statement, the U.S. Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said the proposed cut would be in keeping with President Donald Trump’s effort to cut opioid prescription fills by one-third within three years.
Trump on Thursday also pressed U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to sue drug manufacturers over the opioid crisis.
“I’d like to bring a federal lawsuit against those companies,” Trump said during a meeting of his Cabinet at the White House. He did not name the companies.
Addiction to opioids – mainly prescription painkillers, heroin and fentanyl – is a growing U.S. problem, especially in rural areas. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioids were involved in more than 49,000 deaths in the country last year.
The Justice Department and the DEA said they are proposing to cut production quotas for oxycodone, hydrocodone, oxymorphone, hydromorphone, morphine, and fentanyl by 7 percent to 15 percent, depending on the compound, in 2019.
Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed by states, counties and cities against opioid manufacturers including Purdue Pharmaceuticals LP, Endo International Plc (ENDP.O), Mallinckrodt Plc (MNK.N) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) seeking to hold them responsible for contributing to the epidemic.
Those companies were not immediately available for comment.
In March, Trump unveiled a plan to get tough on opioids, including cutting opioid prescriptions by changing federal programs, funding for other initiatives and stiffer sentencing laws for drug dealers.
He also suggested the death penalty for dealers, a proposal that has gained little support from drug abuse and judicial experts.
Filed under: General Problems
If I am to be cut “one third” more in medication than I have been cut at the start of 2017 and cut 80 percent in medication in 8 weeks, still can NOT adjust a much lowered dosage ……please show me a way out of this encompassing sea in a life raft with no provisions.
You need to find out what “rules” that your prescriber claim that he/she is using.. and then get a copy and read EVERY PAGE… most rules have exemptions for chronic pain pts… it seems that many prescribers are finding the most strict sentence or paragraph out of dozens of pages – typically only applies to acute pain and implement those rules/restrictions to EVERYONE. Take a copy of the parts of the rule/law that you believes applies to you and ask why the prescriber why he/she is not following the entire rule/law and only applying parts ?
Steve; good point, except in places where states have decided to make their own rules regardless of actual facts (not that actual facts have much, if anything to do with this whole national discussion).
I am stuck in Oregon, the state about to show all other states just how a complete ban on pain meds is done, by just going whole hog, getting rid of the details, & banning all pain meds for all chronic conditions, no exceptions (at least for poor people, to start).
The new state motto should be “Oregon; the state that stands behind your right to die with dignity but forces you to live in Hell.”
He just can’t do enough to harm innocent people with medical problems, especially Our Vets now can He? I wish Every single disabled veteran who is suffering would get together and come out scream to his face! It would
Scare the hell out of anyone thinking they want to sign up for the military. They should come out in public and talk about they’re untreated Pain just like Robert Rose. Trump supposedly loves Vets? Hmm not showing much of That.
I sure hope everyone remembers this when it’s time for re-election ..what an asshole. I need mine just to be able to walk.
Why isn’t Trump and his chronies cleaning up street drugs? They just keep pointing the finger at legit chronic pain patients in hopes they will make 1/3 of us diasappear within three years, too? Pain and other problems from legit chronic pain patients only continue to escalate the more restrictive medically necessary opioids become.
Because he knows he could never stop street drugs..he just loves to hurt the disabled ..he knows he could somewhat control the pharmacies.
Some more stupidity from the “so-called president!
He has no courage to go after the REAL problem and the real problem makers – addicts who make a conscious choice to use and abuse ILLICIT opioids
It is worse then that. They essentially are looking like they will give the addict however much they need to be able to work. There is no recommended level fir addicts in the CARA bill as of yet but they said to use the CDC 2016 recommendations for pain patients. At one point they were going to charge pain patients per mg of opioid used a tax. Well, I guess we will end up paying for it as they instead decided to make the drug companies pay. But that will be passed on to us through the prices charged. But at least this way the addicts are charged too whereas initially the addicts, cancer patients and palliative care patients were not supposed to be taxed. The government, both parties, have totally lost all sense of reality. You will note that they are still quoting the bad data that the CDC said was bad, about half that number or less, and I don’t see the CDC correcting them. We are screwed unless at somepoint a few legislators get hit with a very painful disease and can convince their peers that things are not black and white!
But don’t hold your breath. There are cases of rare diseases that doctors get and become severely disabled, requiring pain meds, writing books on the disease. One would think that their peers would take their firsthand knowledge and work with it. But it seems as if they are ignored,just as the common uneducated in medicine pain patients become dismissed. Sad! Bad!
You are so right..when did he become a pharmacist. I need my pain meds to walk.