Oregon AG: Settlement to fund prescription drug abuse fight

Oregon Attorney General Rosenblum announced Tuesday the Oregon Coalition for Responsible Use of Meds and Oregon Health & Science University will receive $567,000 to combat opioid (prescription pain-killer) drug abuse in the state.

The funding comes from the $1.1 million settlement reached between the Oregon Department of Justice and the pharmaceutical company Insys over the unlawful promotion of the powerful opioid Subsys.

As part of the Insys settlement, in addition to changes in how Subsys can be promoted in Oregon, $567,000 was allocated to an organization identified by the Oregon attorney general to prevent opioid misuse.

“The stories we hear about the astonishingly high rate of opioid addiction and abuse in Oregon are heartbreaking,” Rosenblum said. “Both OHSU and OrCRM fill a significant need in our state — and I’m proud that the Oregon Department of Justice can further their efforts and join them in a public education campaign to reduce opioid abuse.”

OrCRM

OrCRM was founded to address the opioid abuse epidemic in Oregon. The organization includes advisors, state agencies, providers, health systems, treatment providers, pharmacists, public health professionals, educators, prevention organizations, researchers, community members and business leaders.

“Oregon DOJ’s support and investment in opioid prevention will save lives and help us combat the epidemic ravaging Oregonians throughout the state,” said Dwight Holton, Chief Executive Officer of Lines for Life and Chair of the Oregon Coalition for Responsible Use of Meds.

OrCRM will receive $420,600 of the total grant and use the funding to:

• Support regional action impact teams across the state,

• Expand the use of Naloxone, a drug that reverses the lethal effects of an opioid overdose,

• Create the Eastern Oregon Pain Guidance Group, to promote safer prescribing practices in Eastern Oregon,

• Build a statewide pain guidance public education campaign web platform with regional resource pages to help providers, patients and family members make informed choices, and

• Support the Oregon Rx Safe Disposal Initiative Tool Kit to help pharmacies become licensed pharmaceutical disposal locations.

OHSU

OHSU’s Addiction Medicine faculty conduct educational lectures throughout Oregon, serve as mentors, and support Oregon’s only Addiction Medicine Fellowship. They also support more than $5 million in federal funding to fund research.

“These settlement funds will provide a unique opportunity to expand access to treatment for Oregonians with substance abuse disorders in the communities where they live. The Oregon Addiction Prevention and Education Initiative trains and supports Oregon primary care doctors in managing patients with substance abuse disorders,” said Todd Korthuis, associate professor of medicine at OHSU.

OHSU will receive $180,611 of the total grant and use the funding to provide addiction treatment training, and support telemedicine consultation services for primary care providers.