• Alabama: USA Health has named Josh Snow as CEO of University Hospital in Mobile, Alabama, the only level 1 trauma center in the region and a nationally recognized burn center. Previously, Snow served as market president for The Medical Centers of Southeast Texas and as CEO of Davis Regional Medical Center in North Carolina. (Business Alabama, 1/24)
• Massachusetts: Vertex Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday reported new study results on its experimental non-opioid painkiller, which found the drug lowered moderate-to-severe acute pain. The drug, code-named VX-548, belongs to a new class of drugs targeting the molecular mechanisms involved in feeling pain. Unlike opioids, VX-548 only works on the peripheral nerves, meaning those outside of the brain and the spinal cord, and Vertex said it expects the  drug will not have the same potential for addiction as opioids. Vertex said it plans to file for FDA approval for the drug by the middle of this year. (Calfas, Wall Street Journal, 1/30; Kolata, New York Times, 1/30)
• Pennsylvania: A jury in Pennsylvania ordered Monsanto to pay $2.25 billion, including $2 billion in punitive damages, after they found that the company's weed killer, Roundup, was cancer-causing and that Monsanto was negligent and failed to warn of the dangers of the product. John McKivision filed the lawsuit against the company after he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which he argued was due to using Roundup on his property for 20 years. In a statement, Monsanto's parent company, Bayer, said it intends to appeal the verdict and the damages were "unconstitutionally excessive," adding that the verdict "conflicts with the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence and worldwide regulatory and scientific assessments" on Roundup. (Vinall, Washington Post, 1/27)

The opioid epidemic is a complex, multi-dimensional public health problem. Use this list of helpful resources on how hospitals and health systems can play a role to treat opioid addiction and prevent further increase in opioid abuse.