INSIGHT - Summer 2020

Summer 2020 | 7 WWW. WWW. WWW. WWW. R.I.P. FDA Pilot Program Targets Unapproved Online Opioid Sales The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has partnered with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to begin a 120-day pilot program to reduce the availability of opioids being illegally sold online. As part of the initiative, the FDA will notify participating internet registries when the agency sends a warning letter to a website operator about opioid sales and the website operator does not respond within the required timeframe. The participating internet registries will review the FDA’s notifications and determine if action, such as suspending the domain name or internet blocks, is necessary. “Cooperation between the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Commerce, with the addition of the pilot program, will help stop the online sale of illicit opioids and combat our country’s deadly addiction crisis,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. “The men and women of FDA have worked tirelessly over the years with the private sector and federal partners, like NTIA, to fight illegal online opioid sales.” The NTIA, a branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce, responsible for telecommunications and information policy issues, will work with the internet registries involved in the pilot, and partner with the FDA to assess its impact. At the end of the pilot in October, the agencies will analyze its effectiveness as a potential solution to dealing with the illegal sale of unapproved opioids online. Source: FDA Illegal Online Pharmacies Exploit Pandemic Dozens of rogue online pharmacies have been found marketing prescription drugs for COVID-19 treatment. The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy ® (NABP ® ) released its May 2020 Rogue Rx Activity Report highlighting how online illegal pharmacies are using the fear of the global pandemic to prey on unsuspecting consumers. Drugs like chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir, and ritonavir are being sold online after gaining national attention. Experts have said these drugs are not proven treatments in the fight against COVID-19 and can be deadly if taken without proper medical supervision. NABP’s report confirmed 90% of the COVID-related domain names were registered anonymously, making it difficult to track the owners of these websites. The NABP continues to identify illegal online pharmacies. You can help patients stay safe by sharing information about online prescription purchases. The NABP’s Not Recommended List of sites can be found at safe.pharmacy/not- recommended-sites/ . Source: NABP Overdose Deaths Surge in 2020 In 2018, the CDC reported a decline in the number of drug overdose deaths. On the heels of COVID-19, the number of deaths being reported by the agency are on the rise. Overall, deaths from drug overdoses jumped 5% in 2019. The CDC reports nearly 72,000 people died from overdoses. Based on numbers collected by the New York Times for 2020, deaths are up 13%. If that trend continues, it could prove to be the sharpest increase in annual drug deaths since 2016. Source: New York Times