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The head of the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday called on Internet providers to help rid the Web of illegal offers of prescription opioids and illicit drugs such as fentanyl that have contributed to the nation's drug crisis. And on Thursday, the surgeon general is scheduled to recommend that more people keep on hand an antidote for overdoses — the latest examples of public health officials scrambling to respond to the opioid crisis. (Bernstein and Dwoskin, 4/5)

“I’m concerned that social media companies, internet service providers (ISP) firms that host websites, and others in the internet ecosystem haven’t been proactive enough in rooting out these illegal offers to distribute opioids from their respective platforms,” Gottlieb will say Wednesday evening at the annual National Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit in Atlanta, according to his prepared remarks. (Roubein, 4/4)

The push for internet companies to police opioid sales adds to political pressure tech companies are facing over concerns they aren’t protecting users’ privacy. Federal regulators are investigating Facebook’s social-media privacy policies and 37 state attorneys general are demanding explanations after the company’s disclosure that an outside firm improperly accessed and retained user information. The FDA commissioner said the agency’s investigators are pursuing inquiries related to internet drug sales and that “we’ve also had some notable take-downs stemming from this work. (Burton, 4/4)

Gottlieb and other Trump administration officials have long made preventing the sale and importation of illicit fentanyl a focus of their efforts to address the opioid crisis. But the comments thrust Gottlieb into a broader fight that has lately consumed Washington — one that is much more squarely focused on scrutinizing major technology companies and their responsibility for what happens on their platforms. (Mershon and Facher, 4/4)