Some things to know about opioids, political cash in Nevada

A survey conducted in 2013 and 2014 by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reveals that 50.5 percent of people who abused prescription painkillers received them from a relative or friend free of charge and 22.1 percent got them from a doctor.

Pharmaceutical companies and allied groups have a multitude of legislative interests beyond prescription painkillers.

The makers of prescription painkillers like OxyContin, Vicodin and fentanyl, spent $880 million on campaign contributions and lobbying initiatives from 2006 through 2015, according to the Associated Press and Center for Public Integrity.

“The opioid lobby has been doing everything it can to preserve the status quo of aggressive prescribing”, Dr. Andrew Kolodny, a champion of prescription opioid reform, told the AP. “They are reaping enormous profits”. Pharmaceutical companies lobby for such laws, which typically require insurers and pharmacists to give preferential treatment to the patent-protected drugs, even though some experts say the deterrents are easily circumvented. Though the drug death data isn’t limited to opioids, the CDC has indicated that prescription opioids and heroin account for the majority of drug deaths.

PRESCRIPTIONS: Prescriptions for opioid painkillers are common in Nevada, with almost 2.4 million prescriptions issued in 2015.

They didn’t speak up in legislative hearings. Purdue Pharma, one of the largest opioid producers by sales, said it does not oppose policies “that improve the way opioids are prescribed” even if they result in lower sales.

Despite that effort, Massachusetts’ newly passed anti-opioid legislation is considered one of the strongest efforts in the country to tamp down on opioid-related deaths that have continued to climb through 2016. The company said in a statement that it contributes to a range of advocates, including some with differing views on opioid policy. The extra year had given Williams and his co-sponsor time to help educate their fellow lawmakers, he said. “Five pills might be appropriate for the pain, but the patient doesn’t need a 30-day supply”. Before the law, there was no limit.

In 2011, Arkansas legislators approved the creation of the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, a database that tracks how controlled substances are prescribed and dispensed to prevent and reduce the illicit use of opioids and “doctor shopping” – those patients who go from doctor to doctor seeking opioid prescriptions. The automatic registration will begin next year. “The doctors’ intentions are honorable”, Dixon said.

The Illinois bill, which never received a vote, contained almost identical language as measures introduced in 18 other states.