Per FB: pharmaciststeve.com has been LABELED AS A SPAMMER

Posted on November 5, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve

Today at 8:30 PM

About your posts and comments

No one else can see your posts and comments

Apparently FB has decided that me making a post on FB that has a reference back to my blog www.pharmaciststeve.com with information that is new or has a answer to something that someone else has posted on FB and the blog post that I reference had some information that applies to their question.

I tried to find out what they had determined what they considered violating their community standards and of course, the link “SEE OPTIONS” they used went NO WHERE… 

Support Message

Today at 8:32 PM
About your posts and comments
No one else can see your posts and comments
They started adding these notices to my FB page about 7:45 PM EDT and then more showed up 8:32 PM  .. as I write this they may be banning more.

Last night I tried to post a comment which included a link to this post

7 million awarded to family of man who killed himself after pain medication denied

and as I hit the enter key… the post showed up with a RED BOX around it and said that they would not let it be posted …. so I took the link out of the comment to my blog post and inserted the link to the TV station article  https://www.wdrb.com/news/7-million-awarded-to-family-of-man-who-killed-himself-after-pain-medication-denied/article_92db6b14-09c0-11ec-b39b-7b711a46b1c7.html     And  my comment was allowed to post !!

Since I have been using the same posting processes for all TEN YEARS that my blog has existed… apparently FB has established some NEW POLICIES

So maybe me doing this may be interrupting FB revenue stream. I guess that Zukerberg  need all the money he can get to fund the name change to META ?

I tried to take a screen shot of those notices and it came up as a BLANK SQUARE… but… my phone has a camera and the FB was being displayed on my laptop. I guess that FB figures that everyone uses their system on their only smart phone, pad or only have one computer available to them at one time.

At this point in time, I am not sure what I am going to do… I don’t get any money from advocating for the chronic pain community and the community seems to be even more and more divided and in fighting seems to have ramped up even more than ever in the last couple of months.

For now, I am going to continue my blog until the first of the year…  and disappear from FB, Twitter & LinkedIN as of tomorrow !

I own the domain www.pharmaciststeve.com and NO ONE HAS CENSORSHIP over what I post on this website/blog… nor has the ability to take down my posts – EXCEPT ME !

Here is what I found via FB page as their definition of SPAM:

Policy Rationale

We work hard to limit the spread of spam because we do not want to allow content that is designed to deceive, or that attempts to mislead users, to increase viewership. This content creates a negative user experience, detracts from people’s ability to engage authentically in online communities and can threaten the security, stability and usability of our services. We also aim to prevent people from abusing our platform, products or features to artificially increase viewership or distribute content en masse for commercial gain.

Do not:

  • Post, share, engage with content or create accounts, Groups, Pages, Events or other assets, either manually or automatically, at very high frequencies.
  • Attempt to or successfully sell, buy or exchange site privileges or product features, such as accounts, admin roles, permission to post, Pages, Groups, likes, etc., except in the case of clearly identified branded content, as defined by our Branded Content Policies.
  • Require or claim that users are required to engage with content (e.g. liking, sharing) before they are able to view or interact with promised content.
  • Encourage likes, shares, follows, clicks or the use of apps or websites under false pretenses, such as:
    • Offering false or non-existent services or functionality(e.g. “Get a ‘Dislike’ button!”)
    • Failing to direct to promised content (e.g. “Click here for a discount code at Nordstrom”; false play buttons)
    • Directing users off of Facebook through the deceptive or misleading use of URLs, defined as:
      • Cloaking. Presenting different content to Facebook users and Facebook crawlers or tools.
      • Misleading content. Content contains a link that promises one type of content but delivers something substantially different.
      • Deceptive pop-up websites. Websites that require an action (e.g. captcha, watch ad, click here) in order to view the expected landing page content and the domain name of the URL changes after the required action is complete.
      • Like/share-gating. Landing pages that require users to like, share, or otherwise engage with content before gaining access to off-Facebook content.
      • Deceptive landing page functionality. Websites that have a misleading user interface, which results in accidental traffic being generated (e.g. pop-ups/unders, clickjacking, etc.).
      • Impersonation. The website pretends to be a reputable brand or service by using a name, domain or content that features typos, misspellings or other means to impersonate well-known brands using a landing page similar to another, trusted site to mislead visitors (e.g. www.faceb00k.com, www.face_book.com).
      • And other behaviors that are substantially similar to the above.

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Centene says it’s getting out of the PBM business

Posted on November 3, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve

Could this be the FIRST PBM that they have caught with their hand “in the cookie jar” and apparently the only way that this PBM – and maybe other PBM’s can show a profit that they want/expect is to OVERBILL ?  But something tells me that there will be “more dominoes to fall ”  I have noticed that in the last couple of years… the major PBM’s have been acquired or merged with mostly very large insurance companies… maybe so that they can “bury” – what some believe is obscene profits – in the parent corporation financial statements.  Only time will tell on this… but… it would seem that numerous bureaucratic entities are taking ever closer looks at many of these PBM’s.

Centene, the nation’s largest Medicaid managed care company, is planning to stop its work as a PBM, according to reporting in the Ohio Capital Journal. Executives last week said the company is issuing a $30 billion request for proposals in 2022 for an outside contractor to take over the work. Centene settled a suit with Ohio over over billing in Medicare earlier this year for $88 million but admitted no wrongdoing. Centene also agreed to multimillion dollar settlements with Mississippi, Arkansas, and Illinois over billing inaccuracies.

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New Recipes for anti inflammatory diet

Posted on November 2, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve

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Woman gets $688.35 ER bill for spending 7 hours in the waiting room — without being treated

Posted on November 1, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve

Woman gets $688.35 ER bill for spending 7 hours in the waiting room — without being treated

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/woman-gets-688-35-er-bill-for-spending-7-hours-in-the-waiting-room-without-being-treated-11635794483

The woman says Emory Healthcare told her, ‘You get charged before you are seen. Not for being seen.’

A Georgia woman spent seven hours waiting for emergency room staff to check out her head injury, and left before receiving any treatment. But the real headache began when the hospital billed her almost $700 for the visit a few weeks later. 

“I didn’t get my vitals taken, nobody called my name. I wasn’t seen at all,” Taylor Davis told a local Fox affiliate. 

She said that she went to Emory Decatur Hospital ER in July for a head injury, and waited as long as she could stand it. “I sat there for seven hours. There’s no way I should be sitting in an emergency room … for seven hours,” she said. So she went home. And was charged $688.35 for the ordeal.

Davis said she called the hospital after receiving the surprise medical bill, because she was convinced it was a mistake. But she says that she was told, “it’s hospital protocol even if you’re just walking in and you’re not seen. When you type in your Social [Security number], that’s it. You’re going to get charged regardless,” she said. 

Fox 5 in Atlanta saw a copy of her past due notice for $688.35, as well as an email that she received from an Emory Healthcare patient financial services employee that read, “You get charged before you are seen. Not for being seen.” 

Representatives from Emory Healthcare were not immediately available for comment. But Emory Healthcare sent the following statement to Fox 5 in Atlanta: “Emory Healthcare takes all patient concerns seriously and appreciates this has been brought to our attention. Our teams are currently looking into this matter and will follow up directly with the individual.” 

Related: This is the most important question to ask your doctor to avoid unnecessary medical care

Davis said this would probably prevent her from seeking medical attention in the future. “I’m very reluctant to go to the hospital now. That’s kind of like the last resort now. Seeing that they’re able to bill you for random things, it doesn’t make me want to go. So that’s not good,” she said.

The story, which published online over Halloween weekend, was soon the top post on Reddit’s homepage on Monday afternoon, drawing roughly 6,000 comments from people sharing their own surprise medical bill stories.

Indeed, Davis is not alone here. One in five Americans who undergo elective surgery get hit with unexpected out-of-network medical bills, according to a 2020 study of almost 350,000 people. And those suffering sticker shock ended up owing $2,011 more than they were expecting, on average. And nearly one in five families who delivered babies in 2019 may have gotten at least one surprise bill for the delivery and/or newborn hospitalization, with an average bill of $744, another study estimates.

Read more: 1 in 5 Americans get hit with a surprise medical bill after elective surgery — here’s how much they pay and how to avoid it

Earlier in the pandemic, men and women getting hit with surprise bills after getting treated for COVID-19 also made headlines. One survivor who spent six weeks in a Seattle ICU ran up a $1.1 million medical tab, although he was quite fortunate in that his insurance paid most of the bill. (If you’re curious, here’s how his $1,122,501.04 bill breaks down.) 

But research shows that people making less than $35,000 a year have the most difficulty paying medical, dental or prescription drug bills. 

Help could be on the way. Former President Donald Trump signed a federal rule requiring hospitals to publicly list the cost of many of their services in accessible, consumer-friendly language, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2021. This includes X-rays, outpatient visits, imaging and laboratory tests, or bundled services such as a colonoscopy. 

Read more: As of Jan. 1, hospitals must publicly list their prices — here’s what they won’t reveal

And President Joe Biden’s consumer protections against surprise medical bills, which includes being protected from unexpected charges if an out-of-network clinician takes part in a surgery or procedure conducted at an in-network hospital, is on track to take effect on Jan. 1, 2022.

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Why you can’t really trust any particular politician nor political party

Posted on October 31, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve

Ron and I were at Butler U around the same time and we each had our own independent pharmacies in adjacent cities in southern Indiana.  Indiana is typically a <R> dominated state. Currently our legislature has a <R> majority and our Governor is <R> and Ron is/was in his  third term <R> Senator.  Ron’s District was a rather small district – 46 I think – and it can be politically PURPLE.. and Ron had already announced – earlier this year –  that he was not going to run for a 4th term in 2022…  I  guess that the <R> party does not have a “strong candidate” for the 46th district, so they elected to take it “out of action”  I guess that this shows that within any particular political party… politicians really can’t count on their colleagues in their own party. – NOT TO STAB THEM IN THE BACK… Perhaps the particular party it is more about what the opinion of what is good for the party and not what is good for a particular colleague and/or the constituents that they represent in a particular district.

Southern Indiana lawmaker quitting after split over GOP redistricting

https://www.whas11.com/article/news/politics/ron-grooms-indiana-senator-resigns/417-957e3719-f8a5-4495-b7af-68d3fccd10d4

Ron Grooms was the only Republican senator to vote against the new GOP-drawn election district maps and decided to resign with a year left in his term.

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ky. — A southern Indiana legislator who was the only Republican senator to vote against the new GOP-drawn election district maps has decided to resign with a year left in his term.

Republican Sen. Ron Grooms of Jeffersonville had said in June that he wouldn’t seek reelection next year to the Senate seat he first won in 2010, but he announced Thursday he would step down from office effective Tuesday.

Grooms’ decision comes after final approval earlier this month of the Republican redistricting plan that eliminated his district that included Jeffersonville and New Albany by splitting the two cities between other GOP-controlled districts. Grooms joined all Senate Democrats in voting against the redistricting bill.

Grooms, a retired pharmacist, didn’t mention the district elimination in his resignation announcement, saying he looked forward to spending more time with his family and pursuing new opportunities.

A caucus of Republican precinct committee members from his current district will select a replacement for the 2022 legislative session.

Grooms’ resignation follows that of Democratic Sen. Karen Tallian of Ogden Dunes, who said she decided to leave her seat in frustration over iron-fisted Republican control of the Legislature. A Democratic caucus last week elected Rodney Pol Jr., an attorney from Chesterton, to fill the northwestern Indiana seat.

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why prescribers need irrevocable trusts: When Data Becomes Due Process

Posted on October 31, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve

Could it be that some of the data on prescribers that the DEA uses to come to the conclusion that a prescriber is providing controlled substance outside of valid medical necessity …. be THEIR ESTIMATED NET WORTH ?  You see when our judicial system uses the Civil Asset Forfeiture Act… the assets can be confiscated without filing any charges and the ASSETS THEMSELVES is the guilty party…  because the judicial system can just “believe” that the assets were obtained using illegal obtained monies…  If a prescriber – before the DEA VULTURES start circling – creates irrevocable trust(s) to shelter all their assets because they have made themselves virtually PENNILESS… and all their assets in the irrevocable trust are managed by the Trustee of the trust and the trustee is bound by the directives outlined in the trust as to what money from the trust can be used to fund and if the trustee violates any of those directives – like turning over assets to our judicial system – would cause the trustee to be put in jail for violating the directives in the trust.  Most trustees of such trusts tend to follow the instructions in the trust TO THE LETTER. Since a irrevocable trust is a LEGAL DOCUMENT… those in our judicial system, clearly understands the details around a irrevocable trust.  Our judicial system does not always follow the “letter of the law” nor the “intent of the law” but their individual interpretation of the law.

When Data Becomes Due Process

https://daily-remedy.com/when-data-becomes-due-process/

It has been said that sin is not in the action, but in the reaction.

Similarly, the harm from data comes not from the data itself, but from its interpretation – how people react to what they see. As what they see can be quite subjective, changing from person to person.

The analysis of data is a notoriously quantitative field, defined by established rules of statistics. The interpretation of the analysis is different, far more subjective, varying based on the biases held by the person reviewing the data.

For federal agencies within the Department of Justice that investigate physician behavior, the interpretation of data analysis is used to initiate investigations and to secure convictions.

But in conflating objective data analysis with subjective interpretations, federal agencies introduce concerning levels of biases and variability in their investigative practices. As a result, the interpretations of laws governing physician behavior vary alongside the interpretations of data analysis – rendering the interpretation of data as due process.

The term is routinely cited but never fully understood. Due process is often discussed only in procedural terms in reference to legal investigations or deliberations in court. For example, if a law enforcement officer tampers with evidence or a prosecutor introduces materially false evidence, then we would expect the defendant to claim due process violations.

But procedural due process violations are only one aspect of due process. The other, more abstract aspect is called substantive due process. It focuses less on procedural violations and more on enumerated rights implicitly afforded through the Constitution. In 1905, the term was used by the Supreme Court in upholding the rights of bakers in New York City to work the hours they needed in order to prepare bread, finding work hour restrictions violated the rights of bakers to perform their job.

Substantive due process protects the right to work, to marry, and to raise children – essentially the basic functions we take for granted in our everyday lives. But in our increasingly complex world, many of these basic functions are becoming quite complex.

Something epitomized in healthcare, which has seen an influx of data turn basic patient care into complex models of technology-based care coordination. Data has now become synonymous with patient care – to the point that nearly all clinical decisions rely on some data point.

Something the Department of Justice has keenly noted, and now uses patient data to investigate the behavior of physicians to determine whether criminal behavior is transpiring. If a physician has higher than average reimbursements, then a physician is possibly committing insurance fraud. If a physician has higher than normal prescriptions of controlled substances, then a physician is possibly committing prescription fraud.

Effectively, the interpretation of the data determines probable cause. But correlating statistical probability with reasonable doubt leads to perilous interpretations that have been proven to be rife with bias – particularly in healthcare.

Numerous clinical studies and class action lawsuits have proven healthcare insurance companies use patient data to engage in discriminatory practices against disenfranchised patients, adversely affecting access to care. These are the entities that directly aggregate and maintain patient information – and even they cannot interpret data without bias.

For law enforcement to then take the same data and investigate crimes based on interpretations – already proven to be biased data – turns biases into evidence. Since most prosecutors are unable to discern between statistical noise and clinically relevant statistical trends, inevitably they will misinterpret patient data. This was most famously revealed when the Drug Enforcement Agency began correlating the number of opioid prescriptions with opioid related mortality.

Data analysis is complex by nature. We try to simplify it through interpretations. But to simplify something complex is a type of bias. And in the courts of law, we have assumed this bias to be evidence. When we examine criminal cases involving physicians, we usually see data included in the filings that allege to be the factual basis for the crime.

Yet we have never questioned the Constitutionality of using patient data this way. But in many criminal cases against physicians, the government essentially argues that data interpretations supersede a physician’s substantive due process rights. That over the course of a physician’s work, should any data aberrations arise, that physician can be subsequently investigated for potential crimes.

We would never allow the government to investigate a bakery based on production trends of bread. But we seem content to allow the government to investigate physicians based on trends in patient data.

Prosecutors justify this tactic by arguing that data is the principal means through which they can investigate physicians – a fair point, and by no means do we argue against using data for such investigations.

But we should not blindly assume we can use patient data in this manner. It was never intended to be evidence, and it has proven time and time again to be biased.

Instead we should closely examine the robustness of the data, case by case, determine if it meets objective legal standards required of evidence, and codify the legal definitions detailing how we use it in court.

As it stands currently, we are using data as due process without explicitly stating as much. In the silence, we have allowed prosecutors to introduce pernicious interpretations of data as evidence, which is a violation of a physician’s due process.

Until we directly address the constitutionality of this, pernicious legal interpretations will continue to deny physicians their right to a defense, and data will continue to pass for criminal intent.

And the courts will continue to enable government encroachment into healthcare.

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Two blood pressure medications recalled over carcinogen concerns

Posted on October 31, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve

Two blood pressure medications recalled over carcinogen concerns

https://www.cnet.com/health/medical/two-blood-pressure-medications-recalled-over-carcinogen-concerns/

The FDA says two blood pressure medications from Lupin Pharmaceuticals are being recalled. Find out which medications are affected and why.

The US Food and Drug Administration announced a recall last week for two medications made by Lupin Pharmaceuticals that treat high blood pressure (also known as hypertension). The medications, tablets of Irbesartan and tablets of Irbesartan and Hydrochlorothiazide, are being pulled over concerns they may contain unsafe amounts of N-nitrosoirbesartan, a probable carcinogen. 

According to the FDA, Lupin hasn’t received any reports of illness, but the company is recalling the medication out of an “abundance of caution.” 

The affected medications include:

  • Irbesartan tablets in 75 mg, 150 mg and 300 mg doses
  • Irbesartan and Hydrochlorothiazide tablets in 150 mcg / 12.5 mcg doses
  • Irbesartan and Hydrochlorothiazide tablets in 300 mcg / 12.5 mcg doses 

People who are currently taking the recalled medicine are “advised to continue taking their medication and contact their pharmacist, physician, or medical provider for advice regarding an alternative treatment,” the FDA said.

Lupin is reaching out to wholesalers, distributors and others that carry the medicine and arranging for the return of the recalled products, according to the recall statement.

Customers or distributors can call (855) 769-3988 or (855) 769-3989 from 9 to 5 ET with questions about the recall. 

High blood pressure is extremely common in the US — almost half of all adults (47%) have high blood pressure determined by a 130 or higher systolic reading, an 80 or higher diastolic reading or taking medication, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Uncontrolled high blood pressure raises a person’s risk for heart disease and stroke, and hypertension is also a risk factor for more severe COVID-19. 

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

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Civil Asset Forfeiture Victim Gets His Money Back!

Posted on October 31, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve

Civil Asset Forfeiture Victim Gets His Money Back!

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Ohio: another chain settling for causing opiate crisis: Illegal fentanyl involved in majority of Ohio OD’s for YEARS

Posted on October 30, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve

As far back as 2017, parts of Ohio were showing up to 99% of OD’s toxicology contained illegal fentanyl.  https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/dayton-ohio-area-99-of-opiate-ods-tested-positive-for-illegal-fentanyl-analog/

While everyone seems to feel obligated to “keep the numbers” of those who have OD’d… no one seems to bother to CORRECTLY COUNT the number of chronic pain pts that die from under/untreated pain either from complications of their comorbidity issues and or they commit SUICIDE…  Here is just one family whose loved one committed suicide from having his opiate dose cut by 55% and decided to seek restitution thru our court system.  https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/7-million-awarded-to-family-of-man-who-killed-himself-after-pain-medication-denied/  there have been other suicides but apparently none of the surviving families have sought restitution via our legal system… and apparently most premature deaths are either classified as “natural causes” or because the person has a Rx for some controlled substances, their death is classified as a “opiate related death” and another death put in the “opiate OD column”.

I am aware of two intractable chronic pain pts who are in need of total knee replacement in both knees and the “opiate management protocol” of the hospitals that their Orthoped surgeon practices at… limits pain management to 90 MME and both of these pts are already above that amount to treat their existing intractable chronic pain and anyone who knows “two cents” about pain management and surgically induced acute pain with a intractable chronic pain pts… is that they are going to need substantially more pain management post surgery.  I know at least one of these pts already have blood pressure in what most would consider “stroke range” and this pt is already taking blood pressure medication, but this pt’s pain intensity of pain is regularly in the upper end of the scale range.  It has been reported that total knee replacement is once of the post painful surgical procedures, can anyone really realize the EXTRA PAIN that these pts are to have to deal with and apparently no one within the surgeon’s office or the hospital wants to listen…   Their “one size fits all” pain management protocols appears to currently be “written in stone”.  Apparently what has historically been labeled as “the practice of medicine” has been revised to “science of medicine” which has no real practical application, since we are all individuals.

Giant Eagle settles pharmacy lawsuits with Ohio counties

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Giant-Eagle-settles-pharmacy-lawsuits-with-Ohio-16576147.php

CLEVELAND (AP) — One of the four retail pharmacy companies on trial for their alleged roles in fostering an opioid crisis in two Ohio counties announced Friday it had settled lawsuits filed by 10 government entities in the state that have accused the companies of creating a public nuisance.

The settlement by Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle includes Lake and Trumbull counties, whose federal lawsuits are being heard in a bellwether trial in Cleveland that began in early October. The other defendants on trial are CVS, Walgreens and Walmart.

Settlement terms were not announced. Another pharmacy chain, Rite-Aid, settled with the two counties in August. Rite-Aid agreed to pay Trumbull County $1.5 million. The amount Lake County will receive has not been disclosed.

Giant Eagle in a joint statement with a committee representing plaintiffs in the national litigation denied causing the opioid crisis but said it recognizes the severity of the crisis, the impact on the public and the “hard work of the public officials working to address the harms.”

“Giant Eagle intends to continue helping the communities in which it operates to address the opioid crisis in a productive way,” the statement said.

In a separate statement, Lake and Trumbull County officials said they are focused on “supporting our necessary action to combat the persistent negative impacts caused by the opioid epidemic.”

U.S. District Judge Dan Polster is overseeing the current trial in Cleveland and supervises nearly 3,000 opioid lawsuits filed by government agencies and tribal entities from across the country.

More than 500,000 people in the U.S. have died from drug overdoses in the last two decades.

The Cleveland trial has been focused on how the companies contributed to the opioid crisis by filling millions of prescriptions for addictive pain killers. All four companies at various times also distributed those drugs to their retail pharmacies.

Around 80 million prescription painkillers were dispensed in Trumbull County between 2012 and 2016 — 400 for every county resident — while 61 million pills were dispensed in Lake County during that five-year period — 265 pills for every resident.

The cost of abating the crisis in each county totals around $1 billion, one of the counties’ attorneys has said.

“We were hit with a tsunami and we were pulling bodies out of the water,” April Caraway, executive director of the Trumbull County Mental Health & Recovery Board, testified earlier this week.

The counties are arguing that the companies’ lax or nonexistent controls and systems for detecting suspicious orders and prescriptions contributed to the crisis. The companies have said their pharmacies filled prescriptions written by doctors for legitimate medical needs.

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HHS: help the addict and ignore the deaths of chronic painers from under/untreated pain ?

Posted on October 28, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve

Is this what you get when our President, VP, AG, Head of HHS are all attorneys… You focus on helping those who are violating the Controlled Substance Act while at the same time you ignore the number of chronic pain pts that are dying prematurely and committing suicide because of grossly under/untreated pain.  How many chronic pain pt’s deaths are really being labeled as a “opiate use disorder death” to help them justify the administration to help try and save those dealing with mental health issues and substance abuse…many of who really don’t want to be helped ?

HHS unveils drug overdose prevention plan to boost accessibility to care

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/578737-hhs-unveils-drug-overdose-prevention-plan-to-boost-accessibility-to-care

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra unveiled on Wednesday the Biden administration’s drug overdose prevention plan, aiming to increase access to care among those with substance use disorders.

The four-part HHS plan focuses on efforts to promote evidence-based prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery support among those struggling with drug overuse and their families. 

The strategy comes as HHS released a report finding that more than 840,000 people died from drug overdoses in the U.S. between 1999 and 2019, including about 93,000 last year during the COVID-19 pandemic when overdose fatalities rose. In the report, HHS labels confronting these overdose deaths as “a top priority” for the department. 

The administration intends to funnel more resources into researching testing strips that detect the strong opiate fentanyl sometimes hidden in drugs, supporting syringe distribution and exchange services, and boosting access to opioid overdose reversal treatments such as the drug naloxone. 

Goals for improving prevention range from supporting the advancement of pain management treatments to reducing “clinically inappropriate” prescriptions with “misuse potential.” The plan also aims to develop, improve and extend access to treatments and recovery services for those who currently have a substance use disorder. 

In a statement, Becerra said the strategy is “breaking new ground to address the full range of drug use and addiction.”

“We’re changing the way we address overdoses,” he said. “Our new strategy focuses on people — putting the very individuals who have struggled with addiction in positions of power.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also announced on Wednesday an education campaign focused on reducing overdose deaths. 

The campaign that targets 18- to 34-year-olds plans to teach about the risks of fentanyl and of mixing drugs as well as about naloxone, the drug that serves as an antidote to opioid overdoses.

“This critical information can help all of us save a life from overdose and support people who use drugs in treatment and recovery,” said Debra Houry, acting principal deputy director of CDC.  

The CDC estimates that drug overdose deaths reached new heights last year, with preliminary data showing a record of almost 97,000 deaths in the 12-month period ending in March.  

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