Friday, October 18, 2019

THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC COST U.S. ECONOMY $631 BILLION - WHO SHOULD WE THANK? BIG PHARMA? MEXICO? OR RED CHINA?

Opioid Epidemic Cost US Economy $631 Billion Over 4 Years, Study Says

October 17, 2019 
The opioid crisis in the United States has cost the economy at least $631 billion in just four years, according to a report released earlier this week by the Society of Actuaries, which analyzed nonmedical opioid use during this time-frame.
Most of the costs were attributable to health care and premature mortality. Nearly one-third of the total estimated economic burden, about $205 billion, was ascribed to health care and the excess spending for those with opioid use disorder, infants born with neonatal abstinence syndrome or neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome, and for relatives of those with diagnosed opioid use disorder.
The neonatal syndrome is caused when a pregnant mother uses certain drugs such as opioids, which force her baby to go through withdrawal from the drugs after birth.
Premature mortality costs accounted for the biggest chunk of the estimated economic burden, totaling $235 billion. This amount was mainly driven by the lost lifetime earnings of individuals who overdosed and died prematurely from opioids.
While more than 2,000 state and local governments have sued the drug industry over the crisis, the report released on Oct. 15 finds that governments bear less than one-third of the financial costs. The rest of it is borne by individuals and the private sector.
Erin Khar, author of the forthcoming memoir, “Strung Out,” and a former opioid addict who had struggled with addiction for over a decade, told The Epoch Times that the economic burden can be reduced if the money aimed at combating the crisis is placed into the right programs. She called the $631 billion estimate an “astounding figure.”
Khar listed harm reduction services such as Narcan training and distribution. Naxalone, also known as Narcan, is a medicine used to aid individuals who have overdosed by temporarily reversing the effect of the opioids until emergency services arrive. She said investing in harm reduction services and mental health services will help reduce the burden drastically.
“Not only would we then be saving lives, we’d be preventing the associated unseen costs and trauma for the families of those struggling with OUD [opioid use disorder],” she said.
The federal government is tracking how many lives have been lost to the opioid crisis, which currently sits at more than 400,000 Americans since 2000, but pinning down the financial cost is not as easy.
A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report estimated the cost for 2013 at $79 billion. That’s less than half the cost that the latest report has found in more recent years. The crisis also has deepened since 2013, with fentanyl and other strong synthetic opioids contributing to a higher number of deaths. Overall, opioid-related death numbers rose through 2017 before leveling off last year at about 47,000.
The new study comes before the first federal trial on the opioid crisis, scheduled to start next week in Cleveland, where a jury will hear claims from Ohio’s Cuyahoga and Summit counties against six companies. The counties claim the drug industry created a public nuisance and should pay.
In a separate case, pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma, which recently filed for bankruptcy after thousands of lawsuits alleged that the company helped fuel an opioid epidemic in the United States, moved up to $13 billion in profits to the company’s controlling family, the Sacklers, according to an unspecified number of U.S. states.
Robert C. Whitley, an attorney based in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, who has been working with the local community to combat the opioid epidemic, said that from his perspective, many costs are apparent in the justice system and the courts.
He said via email the costs are the “tip of the iceberg,” as far as representing what’s going on in the community.
“One of the issues we still see in our community is that many people still seem to be unaware or in denial that the crisis is a big issue in their own backyard,” he said. “I cannot tell you how many people I have spoken with in our community, and when you tell them the statistics … they react with disbelief.”
Whitley said it’s understandable that people don’t want to talk about or deal with the subject due to the stigma around addiction. Bucks County coroner Dr. Joseph Campbell, meanwhile, reported in September that in the first half of 2019, the overdose rate appears to have dropped by 10 percent and third-quarter numbers appear to be dropping even more, possibly by as much as 15 percent, according to Whitley.
“[Campbell] credited this to an ‘all hands on deck’ approach that Bucks County has taken with the mobilization of government leaders and agencies, the faith community, law enforcement, community groups and so on,” Whitley said. “These numbers are evidencing a real push-back here in Bucks County.”
The actuaries’ report is intended partly to help the insurance industry figure out how to factor opioid use disorder into policy pricing. One study published in 2017 by the White House Council of Economic Advisers estimated a far higher cost—just over $500 billion a year.
The actuaries in their report also calculated the projected costs of the opioid epidemic in 2019. The authors estimated that for 2019 alone, the economic burden will end up costing a midpoint of around $188 billion with the range being between $172 billion and $214 billion.
Other costs that contributed to the $631 billion figure were costs related to criminal justice activities such as law enforcement protection and correctional facility expenditures, totaling $39 billion. These activities accounted for 6 percent of the total economic burden estimates.
Costs related to government-funded child and family assistance programs and education programs amounted to $39 billion over the four years. Lost productivity, accounted for $96 billion.
“As stakeholders seek to understand and address the opioid epidemic, this analysis provides insight into the tremendous impact across all areas of our economy,” Dale Hall, managing director of research with the Society of Actuaries, said in a statement.
The Drug Enforcement Agency didn’t respond to a request for comment by The Epoch Times.
The Associated Press contributed to this report 

Yang and O'Rourke propose decriminalizing opioids, including heroin

David Knowles
Editor










Candidates discuss opioid decriminalization and sending drug company executives to jail

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At Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate, candidates Andrew Yang and Beto O’Rourke endorsed decriminalizing opioids, including heroin, as a way to control the drug epidemic that has ravaged American communities.
Yang, a businessman with no prior political experience, said that doing so would help addicts “get well.”
"The least we can do is put the resources to work in our communities so our people have a fighting chance to get well,” Yang said, adding, “Part of helping people get the treatment they need is letting them know that they are not going to be referred to a prison cell. They’ll be referred to treatment and counseling.”
Yang also took aim at drug companies who have profited from the manufacture and sale of opioids, describing the problem as “capitalism run amok.”
“We need to decriminalize opiates for personal use,” Yang continued. “We have to let the country know this is not a personal failing, this is a systemic government failing. And then we need to open up safe consumption and injection sites around the country because they save lives.”


Andrew Yang and Beto O'Rourke during the fourth U.S. Democratic presidential candidates 2020 election debate at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio U.S., October 15, 2019. (Photos: John Minchillo/AP, Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
Andrew Yang and Beto O'Rourke during the fourth U.S. Democratic presidential candidates 2020 election debate at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio U.S., October 15, 2019. (Photos: John Minchillo/AP, Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

O’Rourke, the former representative from Texas, said he agreed with Yang that opioids should be decriminalized, and said that the legalization and prescription of marijuana instead of opioids was also something that should be tried.
“Anyone with drug addiction today is not a problem for the criminal justice system, they are an opportunity for our public health care system,” O’Rourke said.
The bulk of the discussion on the opioid crisis, however, was focused on the drug companies who have been held liable for pushing medication on patients who soon became addicted to them.
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., said she favored jailing executives at companies found to have fueled the crisis.
“They are nothing more than some high-level dope dealers,” Harris said, adding, “The eight biggest pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies last year profited $72 billion on the backs of people like families that we are talking about that have been overwhelmed by this crisis.”


YOU WILL NOT HEAR OUT OF FEINSTEIN'S BIG MOUTH 

ANYTHING ABOUT CHINA'S CRIMES IN THIS COUNTRY 

BUT YOU SURE WILL FIND HER VOTING FOR ANYTHING

THAT BENEFITS RED CHINA.



JUST FOLLOW THE MONEY!


Fentanyl, China, and The American Chemical War


October 15, 2019 

Thousands of Americans are being poisoned to death every year by a powerful drug being illegally sent into the country. Potent and inexpensive Fentanyl has taken more and more American lives year after year, and the biggest source is now clear: China.
However, it’s not the case that there are simply a few criminals hiding in the shadows producing this drug for profits. Rather, it may be the Chinese leadership itself condoning Fentanyl production and export to the United States, as experts have described China’s actions as a form of chemical warfare.
Now, the United States is taking a stand.



FEINSTEIN HAS SPENT HER POLITICAL LIFE STALKING THE HALLS OF CONGRESS SNIFFING OUT DEALS THAT PUT HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS IN HER POCKETS.
SHE HAS AVOIDED PROSECUTION BY VOTING AGAINST ANY ETHICS BILLS AND HER HUSBAND, RICHARD BLUM'S HANDING OUT "CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION" BRIBES TO EVERY DEMOCRAT OUT THERE!



*
IN THE November 2006 election, the voters demanded congressional ethics reform. And so, the newly appointed chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is now duly in charge of regulating the ethical behavior of her colleagues. But for many years, Feinstein has been beset by her own ethical conflict of interest, say congressional ethics experts.

“All in all, it was an incredible victory for the Chinese government. Feinstein has done more for Red China than other any serving U.S. politician. “ Trevor Loudon

“Our entire crony capitalist system, Democrat and Republican alike, has become a kleptocracy approaching par with third-world hell-holes.  This is the way a great country is raided by its elite.” ---- Karen McQuillan  AMERICAN THINKER.com


Senator Who Employed Chinese Spy Endorses Joe Biden for President

Win McNamee/Getty Images
  9 Oct 20192,419
5:44

A high-profile U.S. senator with professional and personal ties to China — including once employing one of its spies — is backing former Vice President Joe Biden amid mounting questions over his son’s business dealings with the communist regime.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), a former chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, announced her endorsement of the former vice president on Tuesday, claiming to have witnessed Biden’s “fortitude” and leadership during their overlapping tenures in Congress.
Feinstein said in a statement:
I’ve worked closely with Vice President Biden and I’ve seen firsthand his legislative ability, his statesmanship, and most importantly his moral fortitud. During his time in Congress and in the White House, Joe Biden has been a tireless fighter for hard working American families.
The endorsement comes as Biden’s presidential campaign is besieged by scandal regarding the lucrative business dealings his youngest son, Hunter, had with foreign governments.
Only hours before Feinstein’s endorsement, the Chinese government announced it would not investigate how Hunter Biden ended up at the center of one its top private equity firms. The Chinese foreign ministry made the decision after President Donald Trump publicly called for a probe of Hunter Biden’s dealings with Bohai Harvest RST (BHR). In particular, Trump has noted that the circumstances surrounding BHR’s creation could have posed a conflict of interest for Joe Biden.
As Peter Schweizer, senior contributor at Breitbart News, revealed in his bestselling book Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends, Hunter Biden inked the multibillion-dollar deal that created BHR with a subsidiary of the state-owned Bank of China in 2013.
The timing of the lucrative deal has been brought into question as it came only 12 days after Hunter visited China with his father aboard Air Force Two. Officially, the then-vice president was visiting the country amid escalating tensions over islands in the South China Sea and decided to bring his granddaughter and son along. In a March 2018 interview with Breitbart News Tonight, however, Schweizer detailed the political machinations that preceded Hunter Biden’s $1.5 billion venture with China:
In December of 2013, Vice President Joe Biden flies to Asia for a trip, and the centerpiece for that trip is a visit to Beijing, China. To put this into context, in 2013, the Chinese have just exerted air rights over the South Pacific, the South China Sea. They basically have said, ‘If you want to fly in this area, you have to get Chinese approval. We are claiming sovereignty over this territory.’ Highly controversial in Japan, in the Philippines, and in other countries. Joe Biden is supposed to be going there to confront the Chinese. Well, he gets widely criticized on that trip for going soft on China. For basically not challenging them, and Japan and other countries are quite upset about this.
Since its creation, BHR has invested heavily in energy and defense projects across the globe. As of June, Hunter Biden was still involved with BHR, sitting on its board of directors and owning a minority stake of the fund estimated to be worth more than $430,000.
Such dealings at the center of politics and business, while perhaps not illegal, are not exclusive to the Biden family alone. As a few noted at the time of Feinstein’s endorsement, the senator and her husband have their own close ties to the communist country.
During her tenure as mayor of San Francisco in the late-1970s and early-1980s, Feinstein took advantage of the newly normalized diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China by establishing one of the first sister city partnership between San Francisco and Shanghai. Through that partnership, Feinstein led trade delegations to China in which she and her husband, Richard Blum, became acquainted with some of the country’s most prominent political leaders.
As the Federalist noted in August 2018, Feinstein and her husband leveraged those relationships to boost their own wealth. In 1986, Feinstein and Jiang Zemin — the then-mayor of Shanghai, who would later ascend to the presidency of the People’s Republic of China — “designated several corporate entities for fostering commercial relations.” One of those firms was Shanghai Pacific Partners, which employed Blum as a director. Blum reportedly had an interest of upwards of $500,000 in a project backed by Shanghai Pacific Partners.
After Feinstein was elected to the Senate in 1992, Blum continued profiting off their ties to China. A the same time, the freshman lawmaker was pitching herself as a “China hand” to colleagues, even once claiming “that in my last life maybe I was Chinese.” Through her seat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Feinstein led the fight on a number of initiatives seen as being favorable to China, including granting the country permanent most-favored-nation trading status in 2000.
Despite Feinstein and her husband having a close relationship with Jiang, the Chinese government targeted the senator as part of its espionage operations. In the early 2000s, the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) recruited a longtime employee of the senator to gather information about the inner workings of her congressional and district offices. Feinstein only learned of the staffer’s duplicity in 2013, after he’d already been on her payroll for more than 20 years.
“While this person, who was a liaison to the local Chinese community, was fired, charges were never filed against him,” Politico reported in 2018, speculating that because “the staffer was providing political intelligence and not classified information—making prosecution far more difficult.”
Apart from the convoluted history of the senator’s ties to China, the political timing of Feinstein’s endorsement also caught many off guard. The California Democrat, who hosted a fundraiser on Biden’s behalf last week alongside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) daughter, is only the most recent figure from the Democrat establishment to openly pledge support for the former vice president. Feinstein’s endorsement, however, was not totally expected, especially since her seamate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), is mounting a bid of her own for the Democrat nomination. In fact, earlier this year, Feinsten flirted with the notion of remaining neutral in the 2020 contest out of respect for Harris.
Compounding the political picture is that most polls show Biden no longer the favorite to win California, having fallen behind Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
Feinstein, however, did not address any of that when endorsing the former vice president on Tuesday. Instead, the senator offered platitudes about Biden’s work to enhance gun control and how his campaign was a “fight to restore the soul of the nation.”

Mexico Seizes 52,000 Pounds of Fentanyl From China

 CommentsAugust 29, 2019 Updated: August 29, 2019


The Mexican Navy in the Port of Cardenas discovered 52,000 pounds of fentanyl powder in a mismarked container from a Danish ship arriving from Shanghai, China.
The cargo manifest for the 40-foot ocean container stated that the powder content was 23,368 kilograms of inorganic calcium chloride, commonly used as an electrolyte in sports drinks, beverages, bottled water and as a non-sodium flavoring for pickles.
The Navy of Mexico intercepted the unloaded 40-foot container on Aug. 24, which originated from Shanghai, China and was bound for the Sinaloa Cartel home-base in Culiacan, 300 miles north of the port. According to local media, the Navy alerted customs authorities from the nearby City of Lazaro Cardenas. Samples collected from plain bulk-bags were taken to a laboratory that confirmed the powder was fentanyl.
Mexican Customs seized 931 sacks of the substance weighing about 25.75 tons. The total weight of the fentanyl powder seizure is preliminary, with authorities still evaluating the purity of fentanyl seized. But if the seizure is confirmed as pharmaceutical-grade fentanyl, it could be pressed into tens of millions of tablets.
Fentanyl synthetic-opioid was hailed as a wonder drug 50 years ago when it was approved as a more effective treatment than drip morphine for cancer patients’ pain. With four types of opioid receptors throughout the human body, pharmacological fentanyl is more effective attaching faster to all the receptors than the highest purity of illicit street-heroin.
Drug cartels favor fentanyl or fentanyl precursors imported from China because it can be diluted with fillers and marketed by street-dealers as cocaine, heroin or meth. Fentanyl can also be pressed into pills and sold on the street as oxycodone.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse warns that pharmaceutical-grade fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Fentanyl is extremely dangerous to handle because as little as 0.25 milligrams absorbed through the skin can be lethal.
According to the non-partisan U.S. Congressional Research Service dated Aug. 15, Mexico’s transnational crime groups expanded their control of the opioids market, with U.S. overdose deaths rising to a record 72,000 in 2017.
The Port of Lazaro Cardenas fentanyl seizure follows the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Aug. 15 announcement of cumulative year 2019 seizures of 1,138,288 illicitly created fentanyl pills by its Phoenix DEA Field Office in cooperation with Arizona law enforcement agencies. That is nearly triple the 380,000 fentanyl pills seized in year 2018, and over 56 times the 20,000 fentanyl pills seized in year 2016.
Former Sinaloa Cartel crime boss Joaquin Guzman Loera (“El Chapo”) was extradited to the United States in January 2017. He was earlier convicted in Mexico for trafficking cocaine, heroin and fentanyl. But he successfully escaped from two Mexican prisons.
Guzman was sentenced by a U.S. district judge in July 2019 to a life term in a maximum-security U.S. prison, with the addition of 30 years, and ordered to pay $12.6 billion in forfeiture for being the principal leader of the Sinaloa Cartel and for 26 drug-related charges, including a murder conspiracy.
Breitbart News’ Texas news bureau reported last week that the Mexican army, federal police, and investigative personnel with the attorney general’s (FGR) office raided a Sinaloa Drug Cartel lab at a residence in the northwest section of Culiacan.
The two fentanyl cooks arrested were identified as Cuban nationals with street names of Abel “N” aka “El Cubano” and Carmen “N,” Abel’s wife. Investigators confiscated 2,500 pills and a press to mass-produce blue M-30s, sold illicitly as “Mexican Oxy.”
Chriss Street is an expert in macroeconomics, technology, and national security. He has served as CEO of several companies and is an active writer with more than 1,500 publications. He also regularly provides strategy lectures to graduate students at top Southern California universities. 

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