Flu season is still going strong, meaning that almost every primary care visit concludes by ensuring that the patient has gotten their flu shot. There is no cure for the flu, but a simple shot greatly decreases an individual’s chances of contracting the virus and keeps epidemics from spreading in the population. What if we(...)
opioids
When Doing Science Isn’t Enough: Critical Issues in Science Policy
Posted by | Events and HappeningsI used to feel like doing science was my way of putting good into the world. I would work on problems related to human health and make discoveries that could be implemented to help people. Recently, however, I have come to realize that research cannot possibly help people unless it is adequately reflected in policy.(...)
From Crisis to Consensus: Guidelines Aim to Reduce Over-Prescribing of Abused Drugs
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchEvery day, 115 Americans are killed by opioid overdose. That this number is so strikingly high underlines the language of ‘“epidemics” and “emergencies” in politicians’ speeches and newspaper headlines. Thousands of articles and millions of research dollars have become components of a concerted effort to understand, quantify and alleviate the opioid epidemic in the United(...)
Opioids: A Different Kind of Epidemic
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchEpidemic. We typically associate this word with infectious disease outbreaks, often outside of the United States. But right here in the U.S., we are in the middle of a unique epidemic: an opioid epidemic. Opioids have long been used for the treatment of short-term pain, and more recently for long-term pain. But rising rates of(...)
Curbing the Tide of the Opioid Epidemic
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchEvery 19 minutes, someone dies from an opioid overdose in the United States. Yet the number of opioids prescribed annually is so high that each American adult could be medicated on a full bottle of pills around the clock for a whole month. Between 2013 and 2014, the risk of dying from opioid overdose increased(...)