The White House announced Friday that president Trump will appoint Jim Carroll as the next director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, according to a report from the White House press pool. "We have full confidence in Jim to lead ONDCP to make significant strides in combatting the opioids crisis, reducing drug use, and coordinating U.S. drug policy. Fighting the opioid crisis and drug addiction is a priority for this administration," said White House officials.
Why it matters: Trump's previous nominee for the role, Rep. Tom Marino, withdrew in October. Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency and has not asked Congress for any additional funds to combat the crisis, per NPR.
The White House is out with a long list of proposals to help bring down the cost of prescription drugs, through a combination of direct federal intervention and steps to promote greater competition. At least some of those ideas will be part of the administration's annual budget proposal, according to Bloomberg.
Between the lines: Lowering drug prices is popular, and it's an issue President Trump has spoken about a lot. And the outline the White House released today is much more detailed than many of its other policy proposals. Still, the White House budget is mostly a messaging document — most real policy action has to come from Congress.
The pharmaceutical industry is livid about a surprise change to Medicare drug policy that was slipped into the Senate budget deal. The bill would close the Medicare Part D "donut hole" in 2019, a year earlier than previously scheduled, and force drug companies to shoulder most of the cost.
Between the lines: Drug companies weren't the only ones taken by surprise. Many lawmakers didn't know this was coming, either. Yet as far as prescription drug policies go, this one is comparatively innocuous for the industry.
