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Seven years, 76 billion pain pills - tracking the opioid epidemic in the U.S.
Scott Higham and Steven Rich unpack the DEA’s pain pill database. Sean Sullivan explains what’s missing in presidential candidates’ appeals to Hispanic voters. And Justin Moyer on an alternative currency.
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
Newly released data reveals where 76 billion pain pills went
The nation’s largest drug companies have paid more than $1 billion in fines to the Justice Department and Food and Drug Administration over opioid-related issues. Those firms have settled for millions of dollars in state lawsuits, whose terms have, until now, kept out of the public’s grasp key information about the size and scope of the epidemic.
After a lengthy legal battle, investigative reporters Scott Higham and Steven Rich gained access to a database that reveals what each company knew about the number of pills it was shipping and dispensing, and when they were aware of those volumes – year by year, town by town.
They say the companies allowed the drugs to reach the streets of many communities, despite indications that those pills were being sold in apparent violation of federal law and diverted to the black market.
More on this topic:
- 76 billion opioid pills: Newly released federal data unmasks the epidemic
- Five takeaways from the DEA’s pain pill database
- Distributors, pharmacies and manufacturers respond to previously unreleased DEA data about opioid sales
How to win over Latino voters
Democratic presidential hopefuls have proposed increasingly permissive steps on immigration policy: providing health-care plans for undocumented immigrants, decriminalizing unauthorized border crossings, and more.
But if their positions are designed to energize the growing Hispanic electorate, some say the candidates are going about it the wrong way. Politics writer Sean Sullivan reports that some leaders in Latino communities fear that candidates may be moving too far left in their quest to woo Hispanic voters.
More on this topic:
- Democrats are pushing for drastic change to immigration policy. Some Latino leaders say they’re going too far
- Where 2020 Democrats stand on immigration
- Warren proposes reshaping immigration agencies, decriminalizing border crossings
It’s about time
Imagine an economy that trades not in money – but in time. That’s what time banks are doing in communities across the United States. When participants spend an hour of their time with someone in need, they earn an hour of time to use at a later date.
“What’s revolutionary about time banks is that they treat everyone’s time equally,” says Post reporter Justin Moyer. “It doesn’t matter if you spend an hour helping someone redraft their estate plan because you’re an attorney and that’s something you know how to do, or if you spend an hour helping someone plant cucumber seeds because you have a green thumb.”
More on this topic:
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Seven years, 76 billion pain pills - tracking the opioid epidemic in the U.S.
Scott Higham and Steven Rich unpack the DEA’s pain pill database. Sean Sullivan explains what’s missing in presidential candidates’ appeals to Hispanic voters. And Justin Moyer on an alternative currency.
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
Newly released data reveals where 76 billion pain pills went
The nation’s largest drug companies have paid more than $1 billion in fines to the Justice Department and Food and Drug Administration over opioid-related issues. Those firms have settled for millions of dollars in state lawsuits, whose terms have, until now, kept out of the public’s grasp key information about the size and scope of the epidemic.
After a lengthy legal battle, investigative reporters Scott Higham and Steven Rich gained access to a database that reveals what each company knew about the number of pills it was shipping and dispensing, and when they were aware of those volumes – year by year, town by town.
They say the companies allowed the drugs to reach the streets of many communities, despite indications that those pills were being sold in apparent violation of federal law and diverted to the black market.
More on this topic:
- 76 billion opioid pills: Newly released federal data unmasks the epidemic
- Five takeaways from the DEA’s pain pill database
- Distributors, pharmacies and manufacturers respond to previously unreleased DEA data about opioid sales
How to win over Latino voters
Democratic presidential hopefuls have proposed increasingly permissive steps on immigration policy: providing health-care plans for undocumented immigrants, decriminalizing unauthorized border crossings, and more.
But if their positions are designed to energize the growing Hispanic electorate, some say the candidates are going about it the wrong way. Politics writer Sean Sullivan reports that some leaders in Latino communities fear that candidates may be moving too far left in their quest to woo Hispanic voters.
More on this topic:
- Democrats are pushing for drastic change to immigration policy. Some Latino leaders say they’re going too far
- Where 2020 Democrats stand on immigration
- Warren proposes reshaping immigration agencies, decriminalizing border crossings
It’s about time
Imagine an economy that trades not in money – but in time. That’s what time banks are doing in communities across the United States. When participants spend an hour of their time with someone in need, they earn an hour of time to use at a later date.
“What’s revolutionary about time banks is that they treat everyone’s time equally,” says Post reporter Justin Moyer. “It doesn’t matter if you spend an hour helping someone redraft their estate plan because you’re an attorney and that’s something you know how to do, or if you spend an hour helping someone plant cucumber seeds because you have a green thumb.”
More on this topic:
Previous Episode
Damian Paletta explains how the U.S. government got behind on its bills. Plus, Jenna Johnson unpacks Beto O’Rourke’s lackluster fundraising numbers. And Sarah Kaplan on NASA’s upcoming experiments on old moon rocks.
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Next Episode
Michael Scherer explains the president’s identity politics. Plus, Eugene Scott on the history underpinning the “go back” refrain. And readers tell us how it feels to be told you don’t belong.
Thursday, July 18, 2019
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