In a recent article, I made the case against "Trumpcare" for our general health care system. As a psychiatrist, I now focus on the impact that President Donald Trump's health policies could have on individuals, families and communities affected by use and abuse of drugs, especially opioids (including prescription pills like OxyContin and Vicodin as well as heroin and the new, really deadly killer fentanyl).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have already declared opioids an "epidemic" – about as euphemistic as can be considering that in 2015 alone, 12.5 million Americans reported misusing prescription pain relievers; in 2014, 47,055 people died from a drug overdose, with more than half of those using an opioid. More people die from overdoses than from motor vehicle accidents, homicides, even the previous leader, so to speak, suicide. Substance use disorders...
Dr. Lloyd Sederer is a psychiatrist and public health doctor. The opinions offered here are entirely his own. He takes no support from any pharmaceutical or device company.
Dr. Lloyd’s two new books are now available: Improving Mental Health: Four Secrets in Plain Sight (2016) and Controversies in Mental Health and Addictions: An Expert’s Anthology (2017)