DE Talk | Uncovering the Non-Traditional Workforce: Recruiting & Retaining Talent in Addiction Recovery
Executive Summary: This is Part 3 of a series of Alerts exploring different facets of the ongoing opioid addiction crisis afflicting our country. Our initial Alert on June 12, 2023 outlined the big-picture issues associated...more
Kratom, a natural substance derived from the leaves of the Mitragyna speciosa tree, has recently gained notoriety for its potential dangers. While proponents cite its therapeutic benefits, concerns have surged about its...more
Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a final rule intended to implement a 2020 modification to the federal substance use disorder (SUD) privacy statute. The final rule more closely aligns the...more
In 2020, over 142 million prescriptions for opioid medications were filled in the U.S. That same year, 16,416 people died from overdoses on prescription opioids—a 376% increase from 1999....more
DE Talk | Uncovering the Non-Traditional Workforce: Recruiting & Retaining Talent in Addiction Recovery Season 5 • Episode 1 It’s estimated that between 22-28 million Americans live in recovery from substance abuse but...more
In 2021, drug-related overdose deaths topped 107,000. Despite a nearly 50% decrease in opioid prescribing over the past decade, drug overdose mortality continues to trend in the wrong direction. Of particular concern is that...more
In 2021, drug-related overdose deaths topped 107,000. Despite a nearly 50% decrease in opioid prescribing over the past decade, drug overdose mortality continues to trend in the wrong direction. In the face of these...more
In 2021, drug-related overdose deaths topped 107,000. Despite a nearly 50% decrease in opioid prescribing over the past decade, drug overdose mortality continues to trend in the opposite direction. In particular, drug-related...more
In a shift from prior policy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) proposed on February 22, 2022, new guidelines for prescribing opioid painkillers. The new guidance largely avoids figures on dosage strength...more
As the opioid abuse and drug overdose crisis rages, experts - after decades now of experience with powerful painkillers - continue to struggle with their proper handling and prescribing. The federal Centers for Disease...more
With drug overdose deaths reaching record numbers, policymakers and other stakeholders must increase their efforts to end the nation’s drug overdose epidemic with targeted, evidence-based interventions and emerging best...more
The nation’s overdose and death epidemic continues to get worse, but policymakers and other stakeholders have yet to fully embrace evidence-based solutions to help those with a substance use disorder (SUD), patients with pain...more
Patients who say they were injured by wealthy corporations must possess great fortitude as they seek justice in the civil system, as has been reaffirmed by the courts in California and Oklahoma that rejected separate cases...more
Editor’s Note: The COVID-19 pandemic drove significant expansion in state and federal telehealth policies, playing a critical role in ensuring access to substance use disorder (SUD) services, even during quarantine. ...more
On July 6, 2021, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed into law Public Act 21-113 titled “An Act Concerning Opioids” (PA 21-113), which establishes pilot programs to help serve persons with opioid use disorder in urban,...more
By legislation enacted last month, on June 9, 2021, amending the New York Finance Law, Mental Hygiene Law and Executive Law, New York State established an opioid settlement fund (“OSF”). Finance Law §99-nn(1). The purpose...more
Health workers with legal prescribing privileges have gotten newly revised federal guidelines — once again — making it easier for them to help those addicted to powerful opioid painkillers by prescribing buprenorphine,...more
The opioid abuse and drug overdose crisis has tarred yet another of the nation’s business titans: McKinsey, a globally renowned consulting firm, has discovered that providing corporate clients sketchy advice about addictive,...more
Consulting standard-bearer McKinsey & Co. will pay $573 million to resolve state investigations and allegations related to its role “in helping ‘turbocharge’ opioid sales, a rare instance of it being held publicly accountable...more
The Justice Department handed Walmart a huge slap in the face last year with the filing of a comprehensive civil case alleging that Walmart knowingly distributed large quantities of opioids in disregard of the law that fueled...more
The stain of the nation’s opioid abuse and drug overdose crisis has spread now to Bentonville, Ark., as federal prosecutors have sued Walmart, accusing the nation’s largest retailer of improperly allowing its pharmacists to...more
The DEA struggles to balance the pressing need to provide pain relief for those suffering from the novel coronavirus with the ongoing effort to reduce the opioid epidemic in the United States. I. Overview on the DEA and the...more
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued two sets of guidance last week, one to employees and one to health care providers, addressing various issues under the Americans with Disabilities Act relating to reasonable...more
As Opioid Epidemic Rages On, Children Are Hidden Casualties - Before COVID-19, Americans were fighting another public health crisis: opioid abuse and addiction. Often pushed off the front pages by the pandemic, the opioid...more
While the country remains focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. employers cannot ignore the ongoing opioid epidemic or how it may affect their workforces. On August 5, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...more