Advocacy Update

As Policymakers Respond to Opioid Crisis, AAHPM Advocates to Protect Patients with Serious Illness

By Jacqueline M. Kocinski, MPP

Headline-grabbing stories of addiction and opioid-related overdose deaths have captured policymakers’ attention and spurred legislative and regulatory efforts to reduce opioid misuse and diversion. Although the efforts are well intentioned, many resulting policies allow for undue intrusion into medical practice or otherwise pose risks to patients with serious illness, making the need for a balanced approach to pain care and prescribing policy greater than ever.