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A4 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 31 august 2022
FDA chief says long-awaited opioid review still in the works

By MATTHEW PERRONE court, said Califf must do
WASHINGTON (AP) — A more than review FDA's "les-
long-awaited review of sons learned" on opioids.
prescription opioid medi- "He also needs to take on
cations, including their risks the heavier lift of correct-
and contribution to the ing past mistakes" by re-
U.S. overdose epidemic, is moving unproven medi-
still underway at the Food cations from the market,
and Drug Administration, said Kolodny, who leads
the agency's commissioner a group that favors tighter
said Tuesday. opioid prescribing.
Dr. Robert Califf wrote in a Last year, U.S. overdose
blog entry that the FDA is deaths soared to a record
still studying "what revisions of 107,000, driven over-
are needed to support whelmingly by fentanyl
appropriate use" of opi- and other illegal opioids.
oid painkillers and "lessons Opioid prescriptions have
learned" by the agency. fallen about 40% in the last
The update comes as part decade but deaths tied to
of a broader outline of the the medications remain at
FDA's ideas and initiatives 13,000 to 14,000 per year.
for combating drug misuse Califf's post lays out a
and addiction. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf testifies before the Senate Committee framework for combating
Califf told The Associated on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions during a hearing on the nationwide baby formula short- drug addiction and over-
Press that the sheer scale age on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, May 26, 2022. doses overall, focusing on
of the epidemic makes Associated Press reducing inappropriate
potential remedies a chal- prescribing, developing
lenge. the public would soon hear and we don't have high taken bolder action to re- new addiction and over-
"Almost everything that we "a lot more about this." quality evidence now," duce opioid prescribing dose therapies and shut-
want to do involves some Part of the delay in reassess- Califf said, adding that it and misuse. ting down suppliers of illicit
other entity or part of soci- ing the drugs is that mak- may ultimately take gov- It's not the first attempt at drugs.
ety that we need to work ers of long-acting opioids ernment-run studies to an- a reset on opioids for the But many of the agency's
with to figure things out," didn't originally study the swer the question of long- FDA — or even for Califf. specific ideas have failed
Califf said in an interview medications' effectiveness term opioid safety and ef- During his brief stint as FDA to gain traction.
Tuesday. for long-term pain, which fectiveness. commissioner at the end of For example, a recent FDA
Califf promised to conduct carries risks of addiction Tuesday's update is also the Obama administration, proposal that would require
a full review of FDA's ap- and overdose. FDA-man- unlikely to appease Califf's Califf had also vowed to pharmacies to dispense
proach to opioids, includ- dated studies to get at that critics in Congress, includ- conduct a "sweeping re- "mail-back" envelopes with
ing their prescribing instruc- question have dragged on ing five Senate Democrats view" of opioids. every opioid prescription
tions, to clinch Senate con- for years. who voted against his nom- Dr. Andrew Kolodny, an has faced resistance from
firmation early this year. He "FDA does its best when it ination, largely over con- FDA critic who has testi- pharmacists, drugmakers
told the AP last month that has high quality evidence, cerns that the FDA hasn't fied against drugmakers in and other groups. q

Census undercounted Memphis by 16,000 residents, mayor says

tween 2010 and 2020. The est undercount of any the coronavirus pandemic,
2020 census, however, U.S. state, according to a hurricanes and wildfires,
said Memphis had 633,104 state-by-state evaluation and political interference
residents in 2020, a drop of the Census Bureau did of from then-President Donald
13,785 residents from 2010. how good a count it con- Trump's administration.
The count failed to include ducted. The 2020 census under-
an area that had been an- Along with Arkansas, Florida counted the overall U.S.
nexed in 2013, and it missed and Texas, Tennessee did population by only 0.24%.
thousands of homes, mostly not direct as many resourc- But several minority groups
in newly constructed, multi- es as other states toward were undercounted at
family buildings, resulting encouraging residents to fill greater rates than in the
in an undercount of 6,322 out census forms. previous decade. Histori-
housing units, Strickland Memphis joins Austin, Tex- cally, racial and ethnic mi-
said in an Aug. 19 letter to as, and Detroit among the norities, renters and young
The Memphis, Tenn., skyline is dominated by the Memphis Pyra-
mid, an arena that sits on the Mississippi River, shown in this Feb- the U.S. Census Bureau. largest U.S. cities appealing children are at greatest risk
ruary 1999 image. "The Census count was the population counts used of being undercounted.
Associated Press wrong. The gains we have in the distribution of $1.5 tril- States and municipalities
seen in investments in lion in federal funding each have until the middle of
By MIKE SCHNEIDER ing the results of the once- Memphis, especially in the year. next year to appeal their
Associated Press a-decade head count in core city, over the last few As of last week, around census figures, but chal-
The mayor of Memphis, the U.S. years tell a different story," four dozen cities, towns, lenges are rarely success-
Tennessee, says the 2020 Mayor Jim Strickland says Strickland said in a weekly villages and tribal areas ful, and they won't change
census undercounted his the census missed 15,895 bulletin to his constituents. have challenged their fig- the number of congressio-
city by almost 16,000 resi- residents, and that Mem- The 2020 census missed ures from the 2020 census, nal seats each state gets,
dents, leading him to join phis actually grew for the 4.8% of Tennessee's popu- which faced unprecedent- or the numbers used for re-
other big cities in challeng- first time in 50 years be- lation, the second high- ed challenges, including drawing political districts.q