Worcester Business Journal

August 5, 2019

Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1150982

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 20 of 23

wbjournal.com | August 5, 2019 | Worcester Business Journal 21 The opioid alarm bell should have been rung long ago Approve Canada, Mexico trade deal V I E W P O I N T E D I T O R I A L H indsight is 20/20, and it is hard to understand the full depth and consequences for the future in any given moment; but the healthcare industry, regulators and pharmaceutical companies should have reversed course well before the opioid crisis cost passed the Vietnam War in lost American lives. anks to e Washington Post and the Charleston Gazette-Mail in West Virginia – who had to sue the federal government to get the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to disclose just how widespread painkiller prescribing had become – we now know exactly how many Oxycontin, Vicodin and other opioid painkillers were in circulation from 2006 to 2012, the years immediately before the spike in the overdose rate. Worcester was the opioid capital of New England, with pharmacies stocking 49 million pills in that time period, 20% more the next highest city (Brockton, with 40 million). In Athol, pharmacies dispensed enough opioids for every one of the town's residents to consume 84 pills per year, and in neighboring Gardner the number was 82. In 2001 – well before opioid prescribing spiked – the DEA warned Purdue Pharma, the Connecticut maker of OxyContin, of the widespread abuse and urged the company to limit the painkiller's marketing. e Centers for Disease Control & Prevention later urged doctors and other healthcare providers to be wary of prescribing too many opioids. Still, the prescriptions kept rising through 2012, and meaningful measures weren't taken to curb opioid W hile the U.S. economy continues to show steady signs of growth, considerable concern in the business community is growing about U.S. trade policies. And rightly so – with 95% of the world's consumers located outside of the U.S., it is critical we have policies in place to promote international trade. Fortunately, our leaders in Congress have the oppor- tunity to bolster exports and drive economic growth by approving the new US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, signed earlier this year. Approval is of particular consequence here in New England, where two of our region's top trade partners are our neighbors to the north and south. e USMCA makes critical updates to modernize the previous trade pact between our three nations, the North American Free Trade Agreement. NAFTA, which has been in place since 1994, was written before many of the digital technologies driving our 21st century global econo- my existed, such as cloud computing and online commerce. e USMCA addresses such important topics as cross-bor- der data flow and data localization, and takes key steps to protect U.S. intellectual property. Canada is a top-three trade partner for all six New En- gland states, and Mexico is in the top 10 for five of the six states. Exports from the six New England state to Canada and Mexico totaled nearly $13 billion in 2018 alone. at includes nearly $5.5 billion in Massachusetts. Top exports from the Bay State include computers and electronics, elec- trical equipment and appliances, and chemicals. At the same time, trade with our North American neighbors supported more than 300,000 jobs in Massachusetts in 2017. Congress has expressed reservations about the USMCA, particularly on such issues as labor and environmental protections, patent exclusivity for certain medicines, and enforcement mechanisms. While the business community appreciates these concerns, walking away from the USMCA because of them would be disastrous. Fortunately, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has taken the initiative to establish a working group to negotiate with Am- bassador Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. trade representative, to address these concerns. Several New Englanders – including House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal of Massachusetts - have been named to this nine-member group, so our region's interests are certainly well represent- ed, and we are confident the group will reach a satisfactory resolution. In our 21st century global economy, access to foreign markets is vital to the success of American businesses. It is imperative the U.S. continue to maintain and expand trade relationships with key partners around the globe, and in particular, with our immediate neighbors here in North America. e New England Council is hopeful Congress will consider the impact trade with Canada and Mexico on our nation's economic well-being and will take swi action to approve this important trade deal. James T. Brett is the president and CEO of e New England Council, which is dedicated to promoting economic growth. BY JAMES T. BRETT Special to the Worcester Business Journal prescriptions until the fatal overdose rate spiked in the mid-2010s. e 2,100 people who died in Mass. in 2016 was nearly triple the 660 in 2006. In reacting to a numbingly high death rate, you'd think we'd have pulled out all the stops to put hard corrective measures in place. Yet, we did not. Yes, statewide measures like limiting opioid prescriptions for first-time patients and developing a database to track patients' use have at least stemmed the annual increases in the death toll, but the data screams more should have been done much earlier in the process. Pharmacists, doctors, and – above all – the pharma companies selling the drug share culpability in this becoming the massive, deadly crisis we have on our hands today. When 1.3 billion opioid pills were flowing into Mass. pharmacies, no one on watch effectively rang the alarm bell. e pharma industry is awash with money and influence, and a radical shi in a business line would have been bad for profits – but it would have been good for humanity. Now, even as new regulations are slowing prescription use, law enforcement and behavioral health providers have to deal with tens of thousands of patients in Mass. seeking out street drugs like heroin and fentanyl, which are far more dangerous. Recognition of this slow-moving tragedy by all the culpable parties earlier in the process would have saved lives. We owe it to all those who lost their battle with this deadly disease to bring the crisis to an end, while providing the resources needed to support the many residents in recovery. The Worcester Business Journal welcomes letters to the editor and commentary submissions. Please send submissions to Brad Kane, editor, at bkane@wbjournal.com. A T H O U SA N D WO R D S B Y D O N L A N D G R E N W W James T. Brett

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Worcester Business Journal - August 5, 2019