President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have taken up the ongoing Opioid epidemic, declaring a public health emergency in late 2017.
Combatting the drug addiction problem in the US is a bipartisan effort, as the issue has, and will continue to affect people on both sides of the political aisle.
Trump recently visited Atlanta, Georgia, where he attended the Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit, and outlined what his administration would be doing to combat the epidemic.
The president is going after Big Pharma, and he is spelling it out for all Americans to read.
“We are holding Big Pharma accountable,” said Trump “They have got to do what is right.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in 2017 alone, “more than 47,000 Americans died as a result of an opioid overdose.”
Dr. Carlos J. Giron, an interventional pain management physician in the Macon area, believes that the federal government should have to ‘shoulder’ the blame for the crisis.
“We must remember that these are controlled substances,” said Giron “Controlled and regulated by the Federal government which allowed the tripling of Oxycodone production. Yet they are somehow immune to shouldering any of the blame. The responsibility for the opioid crisis is multi-pronged, yet was founded on a genuine concern to relieve patient suffering. Many profited from it. More suffered and died from it. Our current job as physicians is to clean up the mess.”
Yes, doctors are now tasked with cleaning up a huge “mess,” as more and more people continue overdosing on opioids.
Here is the 3-part plan The White House will be implementing to counter the opioid problem:
-Part 1 is reducing demand and over-prescription, including educating Americans about the dangers of opioid misuse.
-Part 2 is cutting down on the supply of illicit drugs by cracking down on the international and domestic drug supply chains that devastate American communities.
-Part 3 is helping those struggling with addiction through evidence-based treatment and recovery support services.
