We’re Down with Opioids

You want a headline that puts the opioid drug scourge into context? Consider this one from the NYT: As Drug Deaths Soar, a Silver Lining for Transplant Patients. “Transplants were initially associated with deaths from car accidents, which is why organ donors are noted on driver’s licenses. But overdoses (47,000 in 2014) have surpassed car crashes (32,000 in 2014) as the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. The growing numbers of overdoses from synthetic opioids like fentanyl and carfentanil have only heightened the drug toll.”

+ Stat: The DEA is reconsidering its ban on the herbal supplement kratom. And the agency is also set to cut opioid production by 25 percent for next year. (The DEA took longer to cut opioid production than it took to outlaw hemp shirts.)