Recent News

Note From The Commissioner: Fostering a Culture of Equity, Diversity, and Respect.

May 4th, 2018

Last Saturday, I had the honor of participating in the 2018 Women of the World (WOW) Festival held at Notre Dame of Maryland University. I shared my personal and professional journey with some incredible trailblazing women, including Major General Linda Singh, the first African-American and first woman to become Adjutant General of Maryland.

I was especially honored to meet Tarana Burke, the founder of the #MeToo movement, whose personal story and heroic resilience has been so moving to witness. Ms. Burke spoke about the intersection of race, gender, and class in her experience as a survivor of sexual violence and as an advocate for women and girls.

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Trending News Today (Specialty Pharmacy Times)

May 4th, 2018

Baltimore, Maryland’s health department and a national advocacy group urged the Trump administration to invoke government authority to slash naloxone prices and increase access to the opioid overdo

naloxone

Bmore Healthy Newsletter: May 4, 2018

May 4th, 2018

Click here to read the 5/4/18 newsletter. 

In this issue:

  • Note from the Commissioner
  • Mayor Pugh and Dr. Wen Announce Initiative with Hospitals to Improve Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder 
  • Dr. Wen Gives Keynote Address at AARP Leadership Day
  • Dr. Wen Voices Support for Baltimore City “Diaper Duty” Legislation  
  • & More

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Baltimore Officials Urge Trump To Lower Naloxone Price Through Law Last Considered During Anthrax Scare (Inside Health Policy)

May 4th, 2018

Baltimore health officials are urging the Trump administration to use a law, which was last considered by the Bush administration during the 2001 anthrax scare , to cut the price of the opioid-over

Leana Wenopioidsnaloxone

Hospitals Roundup—Baltimore, hospitals team up on new opioid initiative; NIH finally launches All of Us campaign (Fierce Healthcare)

May 3rd, 2018

Baltimore hospitals will have new incentives for better addressing the opioid crisis—and sharing best practices with their counterparts across the city—under a new initiative announced by the city's top officials Monday.

Read the entire story.

Leana Wenopioids

Gottlieb suggests sea change as administration looks to alter course of Rx drug prices (BioWorld)

May 3rd, 2018

Putting drug prices front and center at the Food and Drug Law Institute's (FDLI) annual conference Thursday, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb took on some of the current rules and restrictions that prevent true market-based pricing and competition.

As Gottlieb was speaking at FDLI, the government watchdog group Public Citizen and the Baltimore City Health Department were calling on the Trump administration to address the high price of specific drugs used to reverse life-threatening opioid overdoses. The groups urged the government to use its march-in rights to enable generic competition for Kaleo Inc.'s naloxone auto-injector Evzio and Adapt Pharma Ltd.'s naloxone nasal spray Narcan.

Read the entire story.

Leana Wenopioidsnaloxone

Baltimore officials urge White House to sidestep patents on opioid overdose antidotes (STAT)

May 3rd, 2018

The Baltimore health department and a consumer advocacy group are urging the Trump administration to sidestep patents on a pair of opioid overdose antidotes in order to combat the opioid crisis.

Read the entire story.

Leana Wenopioidsnaloxone

How Can U.S. Fight the Opioid Crisis? Try Antidote Patents (Bloomberg)

May 3rd, 2018

The Trump administration should fight the opioid epidemic with a novel weapon, say the city of Baltimore and a consumer advocacy group: overriding patents on the widely-used overdose antidote naloxone.

Read the entire story.

Leana Wenopioidsnaloxone

Renowned Journalist Nicholas Kristof Speaks On Justice And Society (University of Maryland School of Medicine)

May 3rd, 2018

Renowned New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof will speak on May 3 at the Peabody Library in Baltimore on the need to build a fairer society. Among those attending will be Baltimore Commissioner of Health Dr. Leana Wen, former Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski and Robert L. Caret, chancellor of the University System of Maryland. The program will also feature Dr. Wen, who will speak about public health in Baltimore.

Read the entire story.

Leana Wen

A Great Way To Prevent Opioid Deaths: Overriding Patents On Anti-Overdose Drug (Futurism)

May 3rd, 2018

In 2016, more than 20,000 Americans died after overdosing on the synthetic opioid fentanyl.

President Trump declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency and, you know, pretty much called it a day. 

Well today, activists and health officials sent a potential solution (or at least a way to help prevent overdose-related deaths) to presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway, who was put in charge of handling the public health crisis.

Read the entire story.

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