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).
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.
Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a substance use disorder characterized by cravings for opioids,continued use despite physical and/or psychological deterioration,increased tolerance with use,and withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing opioids. Opioid withdrawal symptoms include nausea,muscle aches,diarrhea,trouble sleeping,agitation,and a low mood. Addiction and dependence are important components of opioid use disorder.
Alex Michael Azar II is an American attorney,businessman,lobbyist,and former pharmaceutical executive who served as the U.S. secretary of health and human services from 2018 to 2021. He was also chairman of the White House Coronavirus Task Force from its inception in January 2020 to February 2020,when he was replaced by Vice President Mike Pence.
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 to self and others. Related terms include substance use problems and problematic drug or alcohol use.
Addiction psychiatry is a medical subspecialty within psychiatry that focuses on the evaluation,diagnosis,and treatment of people who have one or more disorders related to addiction. This may include disorders involving legal and illegal drugs,gambling,sex,food,and other impulse control disorders. Addiction psychiatrists are substance use disorder experts. Growing amounts of scientific knowledge,such as the health effects and treatments for substance use disorders,have led to advancements in the field of addiction psychiatry. These advancements in understanding the neurobiology of rewarding behavior,along with federal funding,has allowed for ample opportunity for research in the discipline of addiction psychiatry. Addiction psychiatry is an expanding field,and currently there is a high demand for substance use disorder experts in both the private and public sector.
Mark S. Gold is an American physician,academic,and researcher known for his work on the effects of opioids,cocaine,tobacco,and food on brain function and behavior. He has held academic positions as a professor of neuroscience and psychiatry and served as chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Florida College of Medicine,where he established the Division of Addiction Medicine.
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.
There is an ongoing opioid epidemic in the United States,originating out of both medical prescriptions and illegal sources. It has been described as "one of the most devastating public health catastrophes of our time." The opioid epidemic unfolded in three waves. The first wave of the epidemic in the United States began 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 second wave was from an expansion in the heroin market to supply already addicted people. The third wave,starting in 2013,was marked by a steep tenfold increase in the synthetic opioid-involved death rate as synthetic opioids flooded the US market.
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 people with substance use disorders is a form of discrimination against people with this disease. In the United States,people with substance use disorders are often blamed for their disease,which is often seen as a moral failing,due to a lack of public understanding about substance use disorders being diseases of the brain with 40-60% heritability. People with substance use disorders are likely to be stigmatized,whether in society or healthcare.
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.
During his first term as president of the United States (2017–2021),Donald Trump and his administration repeatedly politicized science by pressuring or overriding health and science agencies to change their reporting and recommendations so as to conform to his policies and public comments. This was particularly true with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic,but also included suppressing research on climate change and weakening or eliminating environmental regulations.
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.
María Elena Medina-Mora Icaza is a Mexican researcher and psychologist. Medina-Mora Icaza was inducted into El Colegio Nacional on 6 March 2006.
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.
