60 Minutes – Ex-DEA agent: Opioid crisis fueled by drug industry and Congress

Whistleblower Joe Rannazzisi says drug distributors pumped opioids into U.S. communities — knowing that people were dying — and says industry lobbyists and Congress derailed the DEA’s efforts to stop it

Correspondent Bill Whitaker

Video: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-dea-agent-opioid-crisis-fueled-by-drug-industry-and-congress/

***

The drug industry’s triumph over the DEA

Amid a targeted lobbying effort, Congress weakened the DEA’s ability to go after drug distributors, even as opioid-related deaths continue to rise, a Washington Post and ’60 Minutes’ investigation finds.

By Scott Higham and Lenny Bernstein

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/investigations/dea-drug-industry-congress/?hpid=hp_hp-banner-low_deanarrative-hed%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.a63a0836c97f

***

Amid Opioid Crisis, Insurers Restrict Pricey, Less Addictive Painkillers http://www.matr.net/article-78893.html

Bozeman biotech firm SiteOne Therapeutics raises $15 million for development of opioid alternative http://www.matr.net/article-75053.html