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The U.S. House of Representatives is launching an intense legislative push to try to stem the opioid epidemic as the last big healthcare initiative before the election cycle, but the priorities for the new $6 billion allocated to address the crisis will fall to Congress' appropriators. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is kicking off the first of three hearings to consider a bundle of bills that focus on enforcing current law, none of which would set up additional funding streams, which means the $6 billion allocated in the 2017 budget deal is it for now. That money will be distributed over two fiscal years—$3 billion annually. (Luti, 2/22)

A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Thursday unveiled eight bills it will examine during a hearing next week on enforcement-related measures to help combat the opioid crisis. Specifically, the hearing Wednesday will delve into how to help communities balance enforcement with patient safety; it’s the first of three hearings the panel will convene on opioid legislation. (Roubein, 2/22)

The first hearing, which will discuss enforcement and safety-related issues, is slated for Feb. 28. Eight bills are up for discussion next week, including legislation from Reps. John Katko, R-N.Y., Tim Walberg, R-Mich., and Debbie Dingell, D-Mich. Katko’s bill would create new class of controlled substances for drugs similar to fentanyl, an opioid often linked to overdoses. Walberg and Dingell’s bill would help reduce the number of unused controlled substances by letting hospice workers dispose of these items in patients' homes. The subcommittee will also consider bills from Reps. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., and Earl L. “Buddy” Carter, R-Ga., to help pharmacists detect fraudulent prescriptions (HR 4275) and from Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Calif., that would help improve pain management treatment guidelines in order to detect opioid addiction earlier and better treat opioid-dependent patients. (Raman, 2/22)

States in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic don't have enough doctors to address the opioid epidemic, according to a new study released this week. Eleven states and the District of Columbia lack an adequate number of providers to prescribe buprenorphine, a medicine used to prevent relapse in people with opioid addictions, according to research from Avalere Health, a health consulting firm in Washington, D.C. (Hellmann, 2/22)

Opioids may be tied to an increased risk of life-threatening infections.Animal studies have shown that opioids suppress the immune system, but their clinical effect in human infections has not been widely studied. In a new report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers looked at 1,233 patients with invasive pneumococcal disease, an infection that is fatal in about 10 percent of cases, with higher death rates in the elderly. They compared them with 24,399 controls. (Bakalar, 2/21)

Kaiser Health News: Ten ERs In Colorado Tried To Curtail Opioids And Did Better Than Expected

One of the most common reasons patients head to an emergency room is pain. In response, doctors may try something simple at first, like ibuprofen or acetaminophen. If that wasn’t effective, the second line of defense has been the big guns.“Percocet or Vicodin,” explained ER doctor Peter Bakes of Swedish Medical Center, “medications that certainly have contributed to the rising opioid epidemic.” (Daley, 2/23)

Governor Charlie Baker on Thursday laid out a series of areas where he’d like to see the federal government get more “aggressive” in the fight against opioid addiction. ...A member of President Trump’s opioid commission, Baker said he’d also like to see the federal government amp up efforts around recovery coaches — a treatment approach he said Massachusetts is trying to figure out how to “embed” into the health care system. (Lannan, 2/22)

Northern Kentucky Health Department has launched an HIV-testing campaign as a response to a surge in the virus among people who inject drugs. From Jan. 1 through mid-February, the health department tested 167 people for HIV. (DeMio, 2/22)

Public health authorities are warning against the dangers of buying drugs potentially laced with fentanyl after three men were found dead near a school in San Francisco's historic Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. It's unlikely the medical examiner's office will determine the cause of death Thursday, but the department wanted to alert health care officials and drug users, said Rachael Kagan, a spokeswoman for the city's Department of Public Health. (Har, 2/22)