APA Pledges Support of Efforts to Address Opioid Crisis

Following the release of thefinal report by the President ’s Commission on Combating Drug Abuse and the Opioid Crisis on Wednesday, APApledged its support to work with the Trump administration, Congress, and states to address the nation ’s opioid crisis.“The APA welcomes the final report because it helps bring much-needed attention to this crisis,” said APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A. "Our organization trains thousands of clinicians each year in the diagnosis and treatment of those with opioid use disorders. Additionally, we are an active partner in the Providers’ Clinical Support System for Medication Assisted Treatment coalition funded by SAMHSA. This national initiative provides training and mentoring in response to the prescription opioid misuse epidemic and increases the availability of pharmacotherapies to ad dress opioid use disorder.”The 138-page report includes more than 50 recommendations, broken down into the following categories:Federal funding and programsOpioid addiction preventionOpioid addiction treatment, overdose reversal, and recoveryResearch and developmentIn an initial response to the report, APA was pleased to see that it includes some of its recommendations such as enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, the development of a national media campaign to address the stigma of substance use, improved data surveillance systems, and improved access to drug courts and medication-assisted treatment in ...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: mental health parity opioid crisis President ’s Commission on Combating Drug Abuse and the Opioid Crisis samhsa Saul Levin stigma Trump administration Source Type: research