Becker's ASC Review

87 OPIOID REDUCTION Black patients prescribed fewer opioids than white patients at the same hospitals, study shows By Katie Adams W hite patients were prescribed more opioids to treat their pain than Black patients receiving care at the same health system, ac- cording to a study published July 22 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study examined 2016 and 2017 Medicare claims data from a random sample of fee-for-service beneficiaries who were either Black or white, with their ages ranging from 18 to 64. Researchers analyzed data on more than 600,000 Medicare patients across 310 health systems. Of those 310 health systems, 90 percent prescribe more opioids to white patients than Black patients. On average, white patients received 36 per- cent more opioid prescriptions by dosage than Black patients. This disparity remained true when researchers examined data on patients who were seen by the same clinicians. The researchers said racially biased beliefs, such as the false notion that Black patients have higher pain tolerances, could be prompting this trend, though more research is needed to determine the root cause(s) of the disparity. "The findings should prompt systems to explore the causes and conse- quences of these biased patterns and to develop and test efforts to elimi- nate the influence of race on the receipt of pain treatment," they wrote. n Rhode Island becomes 1st state to approve safe injection sites to combat opioid crisis By Katie Adams R hode Island became the first state to approve harm reduc- tion centers for people to use illegal drugs when Gov. Daniel McKee on July 7 signed into law a proposal to help end the opioid crisis. The law establishes a two-year pilot program to reduce overdoses by erecting safe injection sites across the state. At these sites, people who use illegal drugs or drugs they are not pre- scribed can receive health screenings and recovery assistance. They can also get their drugs tested, receive clean needles and safely consume drugs under supervision. n Pharmaceutical companies to pay $26 billion as part of civil opioid settlement By Maia Anderson T he country's three major drug distrib- utors — McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen — along with Johnson & Johnson have reached a $26 billion deal with states and local governments that would release the drug companies from all civil liability related to the opioid epidemic, e New York Times reported. Under the deal, announced July 21 by a bipartisan group of state attorneys general, billions of dollars would go to communi- ties across the country to pay for addiction treatment, prevention services and other expenses related to the opioid epidemic. e three distributors would make pay- ments totaling $21 billion over 18 years, and Johnson & Johnson would pay $5 billion over nine years. e distributors would also have to pay for a clearinghouse to share information about their shipments of controlled substances for a decade. e thousands of lawsuits accuse the drug companies of failing to flag and halt suspi- cious orders of opioid pills delivered to communities around the U.S. If the deal is finalized, the states and thou- sands of local governments would drop all lawsuits against the four drug companies and pledge not to file any future lawsuits, the Times reported. e companies and their executives could still face criminal charges. A majority of the states have to agree to the deal for it to be finalized. e states and Washington D.C. have 30 days to review the deal. In a joint statement, the three distributors said: "While the companies strongly dispute the allegations made in these lawsuits, they believe the proposed settlement agreement and settlement process it establishes are important steps toward achieving broad resolution of governmental opioid claims and delivering meaningful relief to commu- nities across the United States," according to the Times. A separate deal is still being negotiated between the four companies and Native American tribes. Other opioid lawsuits involving drug manufacturers and pharma- cies remain unresolved. e agreement comes as opioid deaths hit a record high in 2020, with 93,000 reported overdose deaths, a 30 percent jump from 2019. n

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