The Big News

A federal judge has ruled that a Philadelphia nonprofit group's plan to open the first site in the U.S. where people can use illegal opioids under medical supervision does not violate federal drug laws. That means Safehouse can move ahead with the nation’s first supervised injection site—also known as an “overdose prevention site.” The Justice Department had sued to block the operation, calling the proposal “in-your-face illegal activity,” and is still planning to appeal. But, in a case that could have far-reaching implications for other cities wanting to open similar sites, the judge ruled that “the ultimate goal of Safehouse's proposed operation is to reduce drug use, not facilitate it.” In other countries, supervised injection sites are credited with driving down fatal overdoses, restricting the spread of infectious diseases, and serving as a treatment access point, without encouraging more people to use drugs or increasing crime. Existing research is limited but appears to support those assertions, and thus the American Medical Association has endorsed launching supervised injection site pilot programs.

We mentioned last week that four people harmed by the opioid crisis have been named to the nine-person committee of unsecured creditors in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case. Well-known recovery advocate Ryan Hampton is one of the four. The others are Cheryl Juaire, who lost her son to an overdose; Kara Trainor, the mother of a child born dependent on opioids; and Walter Lee Salmons, a grandfather helping raise two children born dependent on opioids. Their committee will play a central role in evaluating the tentative settlement reached by Purdue Pharma and the attorneys general for roughly half the states. They can investigate Purdue’s operations and possibly even go after more money from the members of the Sackler family who own the company. Ultimately, they could play a major role in deciding how much Purdue will pay and potentially how that money is to be spent. Hampton and Juaire, frequent and vocal critics of Purdue, shared on Facebook: “We take our role on the Committee very seriously. Therefore, given the nature of our appointment and the duties of the committee, we must take a step back from any public discussion regarding the Purdue bankruptcy case (and other issues, potentially) from here on.”

The 24 attorneys general who haven’t agreed to a tentative settelement with Purdue Pharma launched a new lawsuit against the OxyContin maker this week in an attempt to block Purdue from avoiding thousands of lawsuits after filing for bankruptcy. Part of their rationale—the company reportedly steered up to $13 billion in profits to the Sackler family owners.

Another company under fire for its role in the opioid crisis, Johnson & Johnson, announced last week that it has reached a tentative $20.4 million settlement with two Ohio counties ahead of the massive opioid trial expected to start there later this month. If finalized, that would leave six defendants still scheduled to stand trial: McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen (the three largest drug distributors in the nation), along with Walgreens, the country’s second largest pharmacy chain; Teva Pharmaceuticals, a manufacturer; and Henry Schein, a small distributor based in Ohio.

The CDC and state agencies have now reported 1,080 lung injury cases and 21 deaths linked to vaping. In a review of 17 biopsies published last week, Mayo Clinic researchers found that the injuries look like chemical burns or toxic chemical exposure, rather than an accumulation of the oils being vaped, as some had initially hypothesized. No single substance has been shown to cause the illness, but several marijuana products have been identified as possible causes. The FDA on Friday warned consumers to stop using vaping products that include THC, the primary psychoactive component of the cannabis plant. Teachers, meanwhile, are increasingly worried as youth vaping soars. And, we learned last week that the FDA during the previous Administration tried to ban flavored vaping products in order to protect kids but was blocked by top White House officials following aggressive lobbying from the vaping industry. Amid all the anxiety over the situation, USA Today provided tips for parents worried about vaping, with our own Dr. Joseph Lee contributing.

Although millennials may seem to be making greater investments in their health and wellness than previous generations, findings from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association suggest millennials will be substantially less healthy as they age, with depression and addiction at the top of the list of conditions affecting them.

Finally, we noted several interesting anniversaries this past week: the 37th anniversary of the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage; the 71st anniversary of Pioneer House, one of the first residential treatment centers in the country, where we still operate our youth facility; the 18th anniversary of the historic recovery advocacy summit in St. Paul that led to the formation of Faces & Voices of Recovery; the 11th anniversary of the signing of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act; and the fourth anniversary of the Unite to Face Addiction concert and rally in DC. A lot of history gets made in early October!

This week’s featured media is the newest episode in our Let’s Talk podcast series, with host William C. Moyers talking to psychiatrist Stephen Delisi, MD, about the oft-forgotten drug of alcohol. Watch or listen in as they discuss the warning signs of alcohol use disorder, including physical and psychological symptoms; the role of genetics and family history in determining risk; the withdrawal process; effective treatment options; and more.

Also this week, take a sneak peek at the new campaign that our friend and former colleague Patrick Krill is spearheading with the American Bar Association: Speaking Out to End Stigma.

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The Big News

A federal judge has ruled that a Philadelphia nonprofit group's plan to open the first site in the U.S. where people can use illegal opioids under medical supervision does not violate federal drug laws. That means Safehouse can move ahead with the nation’s first supervised injection site— also known as an “overdose prevention site.” The Justice Department had sued to block the operation, calling the proposal “in-your-face illegal activity,” and is still planning to appeal. But, in a case that could have far-reaching implications for other cities wanting to open similar sites, the judge ruled that “the ultimate goal of Safehouse's proposed operation is to reduce drug use, not facilitate it.” In other countries, supervised injection sites are credited with driving down fatal overdoses, restricting the spread of infectious diseases, and serving as a treatment access point, without encouraging more people to use drugs or increasing crime. Existing research is limited but appears to support those assertions, and thus the American Medical Association has endorsed launching supervised injection site pilot programs.

We mentioned last week that four people harmed by the opioid crisis have been named to the nine-person committee of unsecured creditors in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case. Well-known recovery advocate Ryan Hampton is one of the four. The others are Cheryl Juaire, who lost her son to an overdose; Kara Trainor, the mother of a child born dependent on opioids; and Walter Lee Salmons, a grandfather helping raise two children born dependent on opioids. Their committee will play a central role in evaluating the tentative settlement reached by Purdue Pharma and the attorneys general for roughly half the states. They can investigate Purdue’s operations and possibly even go after more money from the members of the Sackler family who own the company. Ultimately, they could play a major role in deciding how much Purdue will pay and potentially how that money is to be spent. Hampton and Juaire, frequent and vocal critics of Purdue, shared on Facebook: “We take our role on the Committee very seriously. Therefore, given the nature of our appointment and the duties of the committee, we must take a step back from any public discussion regarding the Purdue bankruptcy case (and other issues, potentially) from here on.”

The 24 attorneys general who haven’t agreed to a tentative settelement with Purdue Pharma launched a new lawsuit against the OxyContin maker this week in an attempt to block Purdue from avoiding thousands of lawsuits after filing for bankruptcy. Part of their rationale—the company reportedly steered up to $13 billion in profits to the Sackler family owners.

Another company under fire for its role in the opioid crisis, Johnson & Johnson, announced last week that it has reached a tentative $20.4 million settlement with two Ohio counties ahead of the massive opioid trial expected to start there later this month. If finalized, that would leave six defendants still scheduled to stand trial: McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen (the three largest drug distributors in the nation), along with Walgreens, the country’s second largest pharmacy chain; Teva Pharmaceuticals, a manufacturer; and Henry Schein, a small distributor based in Ohio.

The CDC and state agencies have now reported 1,080 lung injury cases and 21 deaths linked to vaping. In a review of 17 biopsies published last week, Mayo Clinic researchers found that the injuries look like chemical burns or toxic chemical exposure, rather than an accumulation of the oils being vaped, as some had initially hypothesized. No single substance has been shown to cause the illness, but several marijuana products have been identified as possible causes. The FDA on Friday warned consumers to stop using vaping products that include THC, the primary psychoactive component of the cannabis plant. Teachers, meanwhile, are increasingly worried as youth vaping soars. And, we learned last week that the FDA during the previous Administration tried to ban flavored vaping products in order to protect kids but was blocked by top White House officials following aggressive lobbying from the vaping industry. USA Today provided tips for parents worried about vaping, with our Dr. Joseph Lee contributing.

Although millennials may seem to be making greater investments in their health and wellness than previous generations, findings from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association suggest millennials will be substantially less healthy as they age, with depression and addiction at the top of the list of conditions affecting them.

Finally, we noted several interesting anniversaries this past week: the 37^th anniversary of the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage; the 71^st anniversary of Pioneer House, the first treatment center in Minnesota, where we still operate our youth facility; the 18^th anniversary of the historic recovery advocacy summit in St. Paul that led to the formation of Faces & Voices of Recovery; the 11^th anniversary of the signing of the Mental Health and Addiction Parity Act; and more.

This week’s featured media is the newest episode in our Let’s Talk podcast series, with host William C. Moyers talking to psychiatrist Stephen Delisi, MD, about the oft-forgotten drug of alcohol. Watch or listen in as they discuss the warning signs of alcohol use disorder, including physical and psychological symptoms; the role of genetics and family history in determining risk; the withdrawal process; effective treatment options; and more.

Also this week, take a sneak peek at the new campaign that our friend and former colleague Patrick Krill is spearheading with the American Bar Association: Speaking Out to End Stigma.

Share: Tweet | Facebook | LinkedIn

Treatment Industry Issues and Reforms

Officials on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee are requesting information regarding “challenges, failures, fraud, and abuse” within the addiction treatment industry, as well as best practices and other ways to improve the field. This launches a new phase in the committee’s investigations, which last year included hearings on patient brokering and addiction treatment marketing practices, at which our CEO testified. Learn more →

An article by the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism looks at how doctors can more effectively communicate and connect with patients who are experiencing opioid use disorder. In it, our colleague Joseph Skrajewski explains how Hazelden Betty Ford’s Summer Institute for Medical Students (SIMS) helps prepare future providers to “better conceptualize the realities of dealing with addiction.” One recent SIMS participant, in a separate article, said that spending a week with people in the early stages of recovery helped humanize addiction in her mind and heart.

Cannabis

A study set to be published soon found that roughly one in three 15- to 19-year-olds engaged with marijuana advertisements on social media, and those who engaged with the ads were five times more likely to have reported past-year marijuana use. Learn more →

In Vermont, according to this report, the state’s five medical marijuana dispensaries can prevent the release to the public of any information about them.

Regardless of one’s position on legalization efforts, it is important to acknowledge that marijuana is not without harm (often significant harm to those who are vulnerable to addiction), and though it’s not as lethal as other drugs, it has in fact caused deaths. Here’s an example.

Bill Lockyer, whose four-decade public career included a stint as the powerful leader of the California state Senate, is among a growing number of former government leaders, bureaucrats and regulators who have joined or established financial ties with the multibillion-dollar marijuana industry in the last few years.

A 4-year-old in Nevada nearly died after eating marijuana edibles.

This week’s sign of the apocalypse: some gym rats are making marijuana part of their workouts.

Opioids

A year-plus study that will launch in Ohio in January 2020 aims to determine if a genetic test could help predict which people are more likely to develop opioid use disorder. Like our own research with Mayo Clinic on alcohol use disorder, it promises to be an exciting look into how our genetic makeup might affect addiction. Learn more →

Here’s a look at two dozen universities that in recent years accepted at least $60 million from the Sackler family that owns OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma.

In a new podcast, a psychologist who specializes in treating people with addiction argues, as he is to Vermont legislators, that properly trained psychologists should be allowed to prescribe psychiatric medications.

By tracing the opioid crisis to its roots and looking at the systemic vulnerabilities that made it possible in the United States, can we predict how it might spread to other countries?

Alcohol First, time in a bottle. Now, cocktails in a capsule. Seriously, an upscale whiskey company has come out with a new Capsule Collection that packs the punch of hard liquor into a tiny pod that can be quickly chewed and swallowed.

It is debuting during London's Cocktail Week, which runs thought Oct. 13. The “glassless cocktails,” which each contain 23 millileters of booze, are not available in the United States. Let’s hope that continues to be the case.  Learn more →

For the first time, all judges in England and Wales will be given the power to impose abstinence requirements by requiring people convicted of alcohol-related violence or driving under the influence to wear electronic ankle tags that monitor alcohol consumption.

New research suggests the impact of alcohol consumption on coronary heart disease may be underestimated.

Researchers studying a Chinese man with a rare condition that causes him to become drunk without drinking any alcohol discovered a type of gut bacteria may be to blame for his inebriation and severe liver damage.

A new article looks at advances in the science and treatment of alcohol use disorder, providing an excellent review of existing knowledge and future directions, although it misses this research we’re doing with Mayo Clinic.

A young man vacationing in Bali was given a half-bottle of vodka as a remedy to the methanol he was poisoned with at the bar.

Just in time for Sober October, recovery advocate Olivia Pennelle dives into the debate over the “sober curious” movement.

A reader sent in this “terrifically bad idea,” as he called it: subsidized booze at the 2022 World Cup.

Health Care Reform and Parity

The opioid crisis reflects larger Big Pharma norms. Learn more →

If the Affordable Care Act were struck down in court, the Administration reportedly would delay any changes; it may, in fact, try to keep the case from reaching the Supreme Court before the 2020 election, according to the Washington Post.

Hospital mergers are taking place everywhere, and they’re getting into the housing business.

A major hospital system, dissatisfied with electronic health record solutions currently available, is building its own EHR solution with the goal of eventually selling it to other hospitals and clinics.

Advocate Spotlight Twin Cities hip hop artist MaLLy, a former Hazelfest performer, talked about sobriety in an interview about his long-awaited new album, The Journey to a Smile, and performed to a packed room for his album-release show Saturday in Minneapolis. Learn more →

Another former Hazelfest performer, Michael Lee, shared a powerful, spoken word version of a poem from his new book, The Only Worlds We Know, a nuanced and vivid look at both sobriety and what comes after.

In a new podcast, our friend Jesse Heffernan talked with social worker Art Woodard about his experiences as a person of color navigating the professional world, his multiple hospital stays due to alcoholism, and finding a pathway to recovery.

Rob Lowe says Demi Moore was the first person he ever knew who got sober and a big inspiration to him.

An 80-year-old Minnesota man got sober at 43 and has been running marathons ever since.

This Twin Cities music man turned down a job with Bonnie Raitt 37 years ago so he could instead get help for his addiction.

Miscellaneous Musings Google continued its support of addiction prevention, treatment and recovery last week by promoting awareness via a “Google Doodle” on its home page.

The doodle honored the career of the late Dr. Herbert Kleber, a pioneer in addiction medicine, and was created by artist Jarrett J. Krosoczka, whose mother struggled with an opioid use disorder. It also included links to Google’s new Recover Together resource site. Learn more →

• We’re excited about our upcoming Recovery Friendly Workplace Summit, sponsored by Premera and The Dodson Foundation, on Oct. 18 in Seattle. William C. Moyers will emcee. Check out this preview video featuring our colleague David Anderson and recovery advocate Leigh Swanson, who both will speak at the event. It’s free, and registration is now open.

• Overdose Lifeline, an Indiana nonprofit, launched an anti-stigma campaign called Choose Empathy that includes a powerful video depicting a young man learning firsthand what it’s like for his friend to experience opioid withdrawal.

• We continue to sponsor the nationwide She Recovers: Creating Connections tour, which stops this Saturday in New York City! Registration is still open, and a few scholarships are available. Sign up for yoga, lunch, speakers, connection, support and empowerment. Next stop: Nov. 9 in San Diego.

• Here’s another reminder of the role benzodiazepines have played in the “opioid crisis”—which we’ve been saying for years is actually an addiction crisis involving much more than opioids—and the risk benzos continue to present on their own and in combination with other legal and illegal substances. Here, too, is a video of benzo users describing what it’s like to try to get off the drugs.

• We enjoyed this marathoner’s fundraising video for his big run coming up this weekend.

• SAMHSA’s new meth prevention video has received some rough reviews for its “Meth is Stealing his Soul” message. What do you think?

• Some recovery advocates have taken exception that another was recently appointed to NIDA’s top advisory body, criticizing her ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

• In his first HBO comedy special, Gary Gulman offers candid reflections on his struggles with depression through stand-up and short documentary interludes that provide insight into his mental health journey.

• The TODAY show covered “How to stop bullying in schools: what works, what doesn’t,” highlighting the Olweus program we publish and a middle school in Monrovia, Calif.

• As health officials continue to study the outbreak of lung illnesses associated with e-cigarettes, addiction treatment programs are being advised to steer patients toward the many evidence-based treatment options for smoking cessation.

• According to a new national poll, nearly 60% of Americans indicated that a ban on vaping would drive consumers to purchase products from unlicensed dealers on the black market. Additionally, 72% of e-cigarette users noted that government regulations will not help to curb the number of Americans who vape. However, a large majority of the public supports the following policies around vaping: requiring companies to list ingredients/risks (88%), prohibiting people under the age of 21 from purchasing vaping devices (80%), and implementing FDA regulations for vaping (79%).

• In his latest blog post, William White writes about what it takes to be a recovery advocacy leader, what the recovery advocacy movement needs out of its leaders, and pitfalls to avoid.

• Thank you for reading. What do you think? Send us a note anytime, and have a great week!