By State Rep. Kim Schofield Federally sponsored health care programs often start with the best intentions and have the potential to be successful in reducing the cost of quality health care across the nation. The 340B Drug Discount Program was created by Congress in 1992. The program requires that prescription drug manufacturers provide deep discounts…
President Trump told a drug abuse summit Wednesday in Atlanta that he and his administration will “never stop until our job is done’’ in solving the nation’s opioid crisis. Trump called the opioid epidemic a “terrible menace’’ and highlighted steps that his administration has taken in battling the problem. The Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin…
Overdose deaths from opioids, including prescription opioids and heroin, have increased almost six times since 1999. Overdoses involving opioids killed more than 47,000 people in 2017, and a third of those deaths involved prescription medications. The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has expanded its data tool involving opioid prescriptions. Its update to its “mapping tool’’ shows “the agency’s…
This Commentary is written by Jean Moody-Williams, regional CMS administrator Leveraging community partnerships and critical data is one of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ key strategies to help tailor prevention and treatment efforts to combat the opioid crisis, particularly in rural communities. With that aim, CMS launched an expanded version of the Opioid Prescribing…
When Brannen Whirledge was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at age 4, he was put on medications that failed to help him. He suffered continual vomiting and severe stomach cramps. Then they found a medication that worked. Brannen’s symptoms went away. But after six months, says his mother, Melissa Whirledge, the family’s insurer told them that…
Health Connect South isn’t your typical health care conference. One of the gathering’s central goals is to foster collaboration among leaders and organizations in the industry. A past example is the alliance between pharmaceutical giant UCB and Georgia Tech, forged through the summit, to create a project to explore the potential of predictive analytics to help…
A recent overdose case in the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody involved a 55-year-old woman. The cause of her death was determined to be the toxic effects of cocaine, morphine and methamphetamine, says Patrick L. Bailey, director of the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office. Of those three drugs, morphine is an opioid. It’s a tragic reminder that while…
A southwest Georgia county that has just one physician is losing its only drugstore. Buy-Rite is shutting down its pharmacy in Clay County. The company says it has been losing money on the Fort Gaines drugstore for years. “It’s going to have a very profound impact on the city,’’ Brenda Hardemon, a funeral home employee…
The enterprise is nestled inside a nondescript office complex in Gwinnett County. No signage proclaims the nature of what’s behind the front door, and inside, there’s little in terms of furnishings or décor. Despite this unassuming façade, the Norcross office is the base for an operation that’s helping an increasing number of Georgians afford their…
Students from the Douglas County College and Career Institute are the winners of the “We’re Not Gonna Take It” video contest. The contest is a chance for Georgia students to make PSA video and audio clips related to the opioid crisis, which will be aired on television and radio stations across the state. A recent…