GAO Report on Prescription Opioids

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following:

The identities of 18 or more individuals who were interviewed by the Government Accountability Office in preparation of its October 2017 report to Congress entitled "Prescription Opioids: Medicare Needs to Expand Oversight Efforts to Reduce the Risk of Harm." I also seek any documents , emails , notes or correspondence with those individuals used in preparation of the report.

A copy of the report is attached.

The affiliations, but not the identities, of these 18 or more individuals are identified in a footnote on page 8 of the report as follows:

"We interviewed officials from the largest six health care plan sponsors: Aetna, Cigna, CVS Heath, Express Scripts, Humana, and United Health Group. We also interviewed 12 stakeholders that represent a range of perspectives on opioid use and prescribing patterns in Medicare: AARP, American Health Insurance Plans, American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, Brandeis Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Training and Technical Assistance Center, Federation of State Medical Boards, National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators, National Association of Medicaid Directors, National Healthcare Antifraud Association, Pew Charitable Trust, Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing, and one expert on opioid abuse."

The names of the individuals and requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Pat Anson
Pain News Network