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Rejecting Dsuvia should have been a no-brainer. An FDA-approved intravenous version of sufentanil has been used by clinicians only in hospital settings for general anesthesia and for epidurals during labor and delivery for more than 20 years. But research shows that, along with fentanyl, it is one of the two most diverted and abused drugs by anesthesiologists. One of us (Brown) has witnessed the drug’s potency firsthand, attempting to resuscitate doctors and other health-care providers — some successfully but others not. (Raeford Brown and Sidney Wolfe, 11/16)

While the new law is a positive step in the right direction, it fails to address several root causes of the epidemic. As a physician who cares for patients with chronic pain every day, as well as those with substance use disorders, I urge policymakers and the new Congress to maintain their focus on the opioid crisis by instituting policies and investing in the following three key areas. (Jeffrey Gudin, 11/19)

The package, Support for Patients and Communities Act directs much-needed resources to research and public health programs that aim to prevent and treat opioid use disorder. This includes funding for grants created to combat drug addiction at the state level, the creation of comprehensive opioid recovery centers, and desperately needed regulatory guidelines for recovery housing. The opioid package, which passed the House 393-8 and the Senate 98-1, recognizes that these drugs have an important medical application for the treatment and management of pain. This acknowledges a crucial concern that many in the pain management field have raised: that some approaches to combating the opioid epidemic may actually be exacerbating the problem. (Carrie Wade and Cory Goracke Postle, 11/15)

What is it like to face dying during childbirth in the richest country in the world in Thea was 35 years old and 40 weeks pregnant when she went to her doctor for her final prenatal appointment. She was in good shape, didn’t smoke and had received regular prenatal care, though she wasn’t thrilled with the obstetrics practice she’d chosen in Chicago. The doctors were “more interested in protocols than people,” she said. 21st century? (Kim Brooks, 11/16)

Last month, a team of scientists led by Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello, a Venezuelan now at Rutgers University, suggested a source of new cures: Create a global microbe vault or system of vaults, perhaps where the climate is easy on refrigeration, to collect and preserve such beneficial microbes, particularly from countries least affected by modernization. Who knows the magic that surviving ancestral biotics might hold for understanding and curbing today’s diseases? (Sarah Schenck, 11/18)

Federal law prohibits medical marijuana users from possessing or buying firearms and ammunition — even if state law allows the drug’s use. That likely will come as a surprise to many Missourians who supported the legalization of medical marijuana in the state. And there are no exceptions, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which means Missouri residents won’t legally be able to have a license for medical marijuana and possess a firearm at the same time. (11/18)

Michigan House Bill 4461: The Death with Dignity Act was introduced in March of 2017, and has been referred to the House Committee on Health Policy where it was never acted upon. In the meantime, people suffer needlessly while no movement has been made on a bill that could allow people to make own informed decisions to request prescribed medication to end their lives in a humane and dignified manner. Part of that informed decision is the availability of feasible alternatives, including, but not limited to, comfort care, hospice care and pain control. (Robin Piach, 11/18)