Win for Pain Patients as SCOTUS Cuts DEA’s Power to Persecute Prescribers On June 27, the United States Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that the government cannot rightfully prosecute prescribers for violating the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) unless it can demonstrate that the violation was committed knowingly or intentionally. Coming just days after the rollback of Roe v. Wade, the Ruan v. United States decision represents a significant curtailing of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) oversight—and a victory for chronic pain patients and everyone who prescribes or receives controlled substances. It has been “easier to convict a doctor of a federal felony and send them to prison for the rest of their lives than it is to win a medical malpractice case or action at the state board,” Jennifer Oliva, a law professor at the University of California, Hastings, told Filter. “That’s flipping the law on its head.” “Under the way this statute was being interpreted, the government can put on some expert [and ask], ‘Do most doctors do this?’ and the expert says ‘No’ … Now you’re going to federal prison.” Threatening controlled substance prescribers with incarceration has reduced neither drug use nor overdose. Rather, restricting access to regulated opioids has only pushed people toward the adulterated unregulated supply, increasing overdose risks and deaths. https://filtermag.org/supreme-court-pain-dea/
The silence is deafening. Big Pharma won, & the Sackler family won.
Anon discussion worth considering
Past Notables
Full Notable
Impressive List - Trump Administration Accomplishments
Opiod Subsection
Combatting the Opioid Crisis Brought unprecedented attention and support to combat the opioid crisis.
Declared the opioid crisis a nationwide public health emergency.
Secured a record $6 billion in new funding to combat the opioid epidemic.
Signed the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, the largest-ever legislative effort to address a drug crisis in our Nation’s history.
Launched the Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand in order to confront the many causes fueling the drug crisis.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded a record $9 billion in grants to expand access to prevention, treatment, and recovery services to States and local communities.
Passed the CRIB Act, allowing Medicaid to help mothers and their babies who are born physically dependent on opioids by covering their care in residential pediatric recovery facilities.
Distributed $1 billion in grants for addiction prevention and treatment.
Announced a Safer Prescriber Plan that seeks to decrease the amount of opioids prescriptions filled in America by one third within three years.
Reduced the total amount of opioids prescriptions filled in America.
Expanded access to medication-assisted treatment and life-saving Naloxone.
Launched FindTreatment.gov, a tool to find help for substance abuse.
Drug overdose deaths fell nationwide in 2018 for the first time in nearly three decades.
Launched the Drug-Impaired Driving Initiative to work with local law enforcement and the driving public at large to increase awareness.
Launched a nationwide public ad campaign on youth opioid abuse that reached 58 percent of young adults in America.
Since 2016, there has been a nearly 40 percent increase in the number of Americans receiving medication-assisted treatment.
Approved 29 state Medicaid demonstrations to improve access to opioid use disorder treatment, including new flexibility to cover inpatient and residential treatment.
Approved nearly $200 million in grants to address the opioid crisis in severely affected communities and to reintegrate workers in recovery back into the workforce.
Took action to seize illegal drugs and punish those preying on innocent Americans.
In FY 2019, ICE HSI seized 12,466 pounds of opioids including 3,688 pounds of fentanyl, an increase of 35 percent from FY 2018.
Seized tens of thousands of kilograms of heroin and thousands of kilograms of fentanyl since 2017.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecuted more fentanyl traffickers than ever before, dismantled 3,000 drug trafficking organizations, and seized enough fentanyl to kill 105,000 Americans.
DOJ charged more than 65 defendants collectively responsible for distributing over 45 million opioid pills.
Brought kingpin designations against traffickers operating in China, India, Mexico, and more who have played a role in the epidemic in America.
Indicted major Chinese drug traffickers for distributing fentanyl in the U.S for the first time ever, and convinced China to enact strict regulations to control the production and sale of fentanyl.
