The American Medical Association believes that science, evidence, and compassion must continue to guide patient care and policy change as the nation’s opioid epidemic evolves into a more dangerous and complicated illicit drug overdose epidemic.
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America’s overdose epidemic has been characterized as 4 distinct and interrelated epidemics: prescription opioids, heroin, fentanyl and fentanyl analogues, and stimulants. Even though physicians have decreased prescribing of opioid analgesics, America’s patients are currently facing a drug overdose – both fatal and non-fatal – epidemic that is fueled by illicit drugs, including counterfeit fentanyl and fentanyl analogues, psychostimulants, heroin, cocaine, and drug combinations.
Sharp reductions in prescription opioid supply, continued increases in PDMP use, but staggering increase in fatalities involving illicit opioids, methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine were demonstrated last year. AMA calls on policymakers and others to remove barriers to evidence-based care for patients with pain and those with a substance use disorder.
Learn MoreThe AMA Opioid Task Force, Pain Care Task Force and Cannabis Task Force work to inform lawmakers, guide decision-making and generate support for policies on critical issues that impact physicians, patients and health care policy and practice at both the national and state levels.
ExploreThe AMA offers high-quality resources related to the use of data to shift from “response” to “prevention” of overdose, stigma, and educational opportunities for physicians and other medical professionals who seek to stay current and continuously improve the care they provide.
ExploreUsing accurate, comprehensive data to inform policies and clinical practice is essential to implementing best practices and reversing the nation's overdose and death epidemic.
ExplorePhysicians demonstrate leadership every day in their practice to help patients with pain and those with a substance use disorder. These are a few of their stories.
Sharp reductions in prescription opioid supply, continued increases in PDMP use, but staggering increase in fatalities involving illicit opioids, methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine were demonstrated in 2019.
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AMA President Patrice A. Harris, MD, was joined by Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar, MD, and Steven Stanos, MD, May 29 in an AMA COVID-19 UPDATE podcast to discuss how CO
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After seven years in private practice, Rachel Franklin, MD, returned to where she finished her residency in family medicine and saw a need to improve the way the family medicine center treated its pain patients. She started from the ground
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What is Stigma? Stigma is defined as a set of negative beliefs that a group or society holds about a group of people or people who demonstrate a particular behavior. Stigma is a major cause of discrimination and exclusion and it c
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Homelessness, incarceration and opioid use disorder present unique challenges for the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic, write three public health physicians in t
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to reverse the nation’s opioid epidemic.