Opioid Settlement Hinders Patients’ Access to a Wide Array of Drugs

March 13, 2023

(New York Times) – The $21 billion settlement, which was brokered between the three largest American pharmaceutical distributors and the attorneys general of 46 states, was designed in part to correct practices that had flooded the country with prescription painkillers, contributing to the nation’s opioid crisis. Distributors are placing stricter limits on drug supplies to individual pharmacies and heavily scrutinizing their dispensing activity.

But the oversight is not limited to opioids: It applies to an array of drugs known as controlled substances that have the potential to be addictive or habit-forming, such as muscle relaxants or medications like Xanax, used to treat anxiety and panic disorders. (Read More)