This issue brief provides a one-page overview of the epidemic and select AMA advocacy initiatives and resources.
Many patients with opioid use disorder are treated in primary care, where effective addiction treatment can be provided. Family physicians are ideally positioned to diagnose opioid use disorder, provide evidence-based treatment with buprenorphine or naltrexone, refer patients for methadone as appropriate, and lead the response to the current opioid crisis. Am Fam Physician. 2019 Oct 1;100(7):416-425.
Access state-by-state and national fact sheets that examine the intersection of the opioid epidemic, child welfare systems, and child health. These fact sheets also offer policy solutions that can support vulnerable children and families at both the state and federal level.
The AAP is a partner in this campaign, which was launched in 2012 by The Partnership at Drugfree.org. The Medicine Abuse Project aims to curb the abuse of medicine. The Web site houses a suite of comprehensive resources tailored to parents, health professionals, educators, and community leaders, to help them learn about and address the problem.
The AAP was part of a coalition of medical professional organizations that developed this free online course. It is offered through two 30-minute sections and encourages prevention strategies for adolescents reporting no substance use and offers guidance for how to address substance use at all levels—from mild, to moderate, to severe. It also discusses safe prescribing practices and evidence-based treatments for teens with a substance use disorder. Brief clinician videos provide insights and tips to incorporate into practice.
The AMA Substance Use and Pain Care Task Force urges physicians and other health care professions to continue taking action to help reverse the nation’s drug overdose epidemic—and the Task Force also calls on policymakers to take specific steps to remove barriers to evidence-based care for patients with pain and those with a substance use disorder.
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to reverse the nation’s opioid epidemic.