The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of the U.S. people and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Improving the health,safety,and well-being of America". Before the separate federal Department of Education was created in 1979,it was called the Department of Health,Education,and Welfare (HEW).
Fentanyl,also spelled fentanil,is a highly potent synthetic piperidine opioid drug primarily used as an analgesic. Because fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine,its primary clinical utility is in pain management for cancer patients and those recovering from painful surgical operations. Fentanyl is also used as a sedative. Depending on the method of delivery,fentanyl can be very fast acting and ingesting a relatively small quantity can cause overdose. Fentanyl works by activating mu-opioid receptors. Fentanyl is also commonly known as fentanyl citrate and is sold under the brand name Sublimaze,among others.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. SAMHSA is charged with improving the quality and availability of treatment and rehabilitative services in order to reduce illness,death,disability,and the cost to society resulting from substance abuse and mental illnesses. The Administrator of SAMHSA reports directly to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. SAMHSA's headquarters building is located outside of Rockville,Maryland.
Terry L. Cline is an American psychologist and public health policy specialist from Oklahoma. Cline resigned on October 30,2017 from the Oklahoma State Department of Health. He has served in various positions under Governors of Oklahoma Frank Keating (R),Brad Henry (D),and Mary Fallin (R). Cline resigned his position after financial mismanagement was discovered within the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
An opioid overdose is toxicity due to excessive consumption of opioids,such as morphine,codeine,heroin,fentanyl,tramadol,and methadone. This preventable pathology can be fatal if it leads to respiratory depression,a lethal condition that can cause hypoxia from slow and shallow breathing. Other symptoms include small pupils,and unconsciousness,however its onset can depend on the method of ingestion,the dosage and individual risk factors. Although there were over 110,000 deaths in 2017 due to opioids,individuals who survived also faced adverse complications,including permanent brain damage.
Substance use disorder (SUD) is the persistent use of drugs despite substantial harm and adverse consequences as a result of their use. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) states that “Substance use disorder (SUD) is a treatable mental disorder that affects a person's brain and behavior,leading to their inability to control their use of substances like legal or illegal drugs,alcohol,or medications. Symptoms can be moderate to severe,with addiction being the most severe form of SUD”. Substance use disorders (SUD) are considered to be a serious mental illness that fluctuates with the age that symptoms first start appearing in an individual,the time during which it exists and the type of substance that is used. It is not uncommon for those who have SUD to also have other mental health disorders. Substance use disorders are characterized by an array of mental/emotional,physical,and behavioral problems such as chronic guilt;an inability to reduce or stop consuming the substance(s) despite repeated attempts;operating vehicles while intoxicated;and physiological withdrawal symptoms. Drug classes that are commonly involved in SUD include:alcohol,caffeine,cannabis,hallucinogens,inhalants,opioids,sedatives,hypnotics or anxiolytics,stimulants,tobacco
Mark S. Gold is an American physician,professor,author,and researcher on the effects of opioids,cocaine,tobacco,and other drugs as well as food on the brain and behavior. He is married to Janice Finn Gold.
Brett P. Giroir is an American pediatrician. He was formerly the U.S. assistant secretary for health,a four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and an acting Food and Drug Administration commissioner.
In the United States,the opioid epidemic is an extensive ongoing overuse of opioid medications,both from medical prescriptions and illegal sources. The epidemic began in the United States in the late 1990s,according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),when opioids were increasingly prescribed for pain management,resulting in a rise in overall opioid use throughout subsequent years. The great majority of Americans who use prescription opioids do not believe that they are misusing them.
Vanila M. Singh is an American physician and professor with involvement in United States health policy. Singh was a candidate for the United States House of Representatives in 2014. Early in her career she taught at UCLA Medical Center,and she is currently an associate professor of anesthesiology,perioperative and pain medicine at Stanford University Medical Center. On June 12,2017,she was appointed the chief medical officer to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,a presidential appointment at the Senior Executive Service level. She served as Chair of the Inter-Agency Pain Management Task Force established by the CARA Act of 2016,which released its final report on acute and chronic pain management best practices on May 30,2019. Dr. Singh was also appointed as the Acting Regional Health Administrator in Region 9 in August 2018.
Discrimination against drug addicts is a form of discrimination against people who suffer from a drug addiction.
A disease of despair is one of three classes of behavior-related medical conditions that increase in groups of people who experience despair due to a sense that their long-term social and economic prospects are bleak. The three disease types are drug overdose,suicide,and alcoholic liver disease.
The opioid epidemic,also referred to as the opioid crisis,is the rapid increase in the overuse,misuse/abuse,and overdose deaths attributed either in part or in whole to the class of drugs called opiates/opioids since the 1990s. It includes the significant medical,social,psychological,demographic and economic consequences of the medical,non-medical,and recreational abuse of these medications.
Rick Arthur Bright is an American immunologist,vaccine researcher,and public health official. He was the director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) from 2016 to 2020. In May 2020,he filed a whistleblower complaint,alleging that the Trump administration ignored his early warnings about the COVID-19 pandemic and illegally retaliated against him by ousting him from his role and demoting him to a position at the National Institutes of Health. On October 6,2020,Bright resigned from the government. On November 9 he was named a member of President-elect Joe Biden's coronavirus advisory board.
Kelly J. Clark is an American physician and psychiatrist known for her work in the fields of substance use disorder,addiction medicine,and addiction psychiatry.
Deni Carise is an American clinical psychologist,adjunct professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania and researcher in substance use disorder treatment.
Miriam Delphin-Rittmon is an American psychologist from Connecticut who is currently serving as the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Mental Health and Substance Use since 2021.
Harm reduction consists of a series of strategies aimed at reducing the negative impacts of drug use on users. It has been described as an alternative to the U.S.'s moral model and disease model of drug use and addiction. While the moral model treats drug use as a morally wrong action and the disease model treats it as a biological or genetic disease needing medical intervention,harm reduction takes a public health approach with a basis in pragmatism. Harm reduction provides an alternative to complete abstinence as a method for preventing and mitigating the negative consequences of drug use and addiction.
Ayana Jordan is an American addiction psychiatrist and immunopathologist. She researches treatments for substance use disorders in marginalized communities. She is the Barbara Wilson Associate Professor of Psychiatry at NYU Langone Health and was a professor at Yale School of Medicine. She served as an attending psychiatrist in the Yale University Department of Psychiatry. She was elected to the Board of Trustees of the American Psychiatric Association in 2018. She attended Hampton University and received her MD and PhD from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
In response to the surging opioid prescription rates by health care providers that contributed to the opioid epidemic in the United States,US states began passing legislation to stifle high-risk prescribing practices. These new laws fell primarily into one of the following four categories:
- Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) enrollment laws:prescribers must enroll in their state's PDMP,an electronic database containing a record of all patients' controlled substance prescriptions
- PDMP query laws:prescribers must check the PDMP before prescribing an opioid
- Opioid prescribing cap laws:opioid prescriptions cannot exceed designated doses or durations
- Pill mill laws:pain clinics are closely regulated and monitored to minimize the prescription of opioids non-medically
