FDA's Response to Prescription Opioid Drug Abuse: Reactive or Proactive?
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WH
Robert M. Califf, MD, Janet Woodcock, MD, and
Stephen Ostroff, MD of the
FDA, in a
2.4.16
New England Journal of Medicine
post, describe a
"Proactive Response" to the crisis:
We at the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continue to be deeply concerned about the growing epidemic of opioid abuse, addiction, and overdose - an epidemic directly related to the increasingly widespread misuse of powerful opioid pain medications. As the federal agency charged with ensuring that the drugs used by the U.S. public are both effective and safe, we are committed to working in partnership with other government agencies, health care providers, the medical products industry and, most important, patients and their families to deal proactively with this unfolding public health crisis, which has already profoundly affected individuals, families, and communities throughout our country. We will do so while also safeguarding appropriate access to vitally important pain medications for the patients who need them.
WIM
Florida's pill mill crisis dates back to 2005. Many in this state would argue the FDA's response is reactive.
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Florida Has 9 Confirmed Cases of Zika Virus
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WH
A health emergency has been declared in Miami-Dade and three other counties due to the Zika virus.
Governor
Rick Scott signed the order Wednesday to cover Miami-Dade, Lee, Hillsborough and Santa Rosa counties. Lee and Hillsborough counties has two confirmed cases each, Santa Rosa had one.
Florida health officials have confirmed that there have been nine cases of the mosquito borne Zika virus in the state, four of which were in Miami-Dade.
WIM
"Although Florida's current nine Zika cases were travel-related, we have to ensure Florida is prepared and stays ahead of the spread of the Zika virus in our state. Our
Department of Health will continue to be in constant communication with all county health offices, hospitals and the
Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We know that we must be prepared for the worst even as we hope for the best," said Gov. Scott in a statement.
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Report: Robust data analytics capabilities 'likely several years away'
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WH
According to
Katie Dvorak in a
FierceHealthIT
post dated
2.3.16:
Robust data analysis will be critical for health organizations as the industry moves from volume-based payment to a value-based system, but there's still a long road ahead for hospitals and health systems to get where they need to be...
The author is relying on a market trends report recently published by
Chilmark Research.
WIM
Since the power of data analytics is oft-touted by health policy makers as the industry's savior, this news is quite sobering.
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| About Us |
Florida Health Industry Week in Review is published every Monday by
FHIcommunications.
Each Monday morning we share the top healthcare headlines of the previous week and summarize
What Happened (WH) and
Why It Matters (WIM).
To learn how you can join our team of editorial contributors, contact
Jeffrey Herschler.
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