President Donald Trump called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to bring a federal lawsuit against opioid makers and distributors rather than just joining state suits, and to explore ways to stop opioids from coming in from China and Mexico, according to a White House press pool report from Thursday (Aug. 16).

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is proposing to cut manufacturing quotas for oxycodone, hydrocodone, oxymorphone, hydromorphone, morphine and fentanyl by an average of 10 percent for 2019 compared to the 2018 production quotas, the agency announced Thursday (Aug. 16).

A veterinary pain management expert is concerned about potential lack of access to opioids in the veterinary medicine space that could be caused by attempts to curb the opioid epidemic.

FDA has put veterinarians who prescribe opioids to treat pain in animals on notice that pain medications prescribed for pets could be misused by people.

The House Ways & Means Committee plans to send four letters to CMS highlighting ways to relieve administrative burden for hospitals, post-acute care providers, physicians and rural providers as part of its Medicare red tape relief project, but a new report from the committee includes no concrete plans for legislation despite Chair Peter Roskam's (R-IL) call earlier this year for legislative action this summer.

A federal judge in Texas will hear oral arguments Sept. 10 on 20 GOP-led states’ request for a preliminary injunction that would immediately stop enforcement of the Affordable Care Act, and health and legal expert Tim Jost says the result of that hearing could make or break Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's chances of confirmation.

A new lawsuit challenging Arkansas' Medicaid work requirements has been assigned to the same judge who stopped Kentucky's planned work requirements from taking effect in July.

A former CMS official and a geriatric specialist say CMS, despite good intentions, missed the mark with its proposal to overhaul physician evaluation and management codes, and should pull the proposal and consider basing pay instead on the time physicians spend with beneficiaries.