FDA set to work with insurers, PBMs to fight opioid crisis

Fierce Pharma ------ The United States’ opioid epidemic has yielded plenty of lawsuits, investigations and damage to addicted patients and their families. But now it might spawn an unlikely collaboration between U.S. drug regulators, insurers and pharmacy benefit managers. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb plans to meet with insurers and pharmacy benefit managers to see how they might be able to limit dispensing and bring opioid prescribing closer to clinical guidelines, he told Bloomberg in an interview. As it stands, patients who get a tooth pulled or a hernia repair can receive a 30-day opioid prescription, he said. Gottlieb told the news service he wants to see if there are ways for those groups to corral opioid use while the agency explores label changes for the addictive painkiller class. Right now, there’s “no information in the drug label about what the appropriate dispensing should be,” he told Bloomberg. To learn more click on the picture below to read the article.