News Archive

In a recent blog post, Nicolas P. Terry, Hall Render Professor of Law and Executive Director, Hall Center for Law and Health at IU McKinney School of Law, examines the proliferation of reports on the opioid use disorder epidemic and suggests that incremental solutions won’t be enough.

In his post, “Reports on the Opioid Crisis are Full of Misidentified Problems and Poorly Calibrated Solutions,” Professor Terry outlines the underlying problem with the proliferation of reports and recommendations for solving the opioid crisis.

“Most reports endorse healthcare and public health initiatives such as broader availability of all three types of FDA-approved medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in multiple treatment settings, including jails, as well as the provision of wrap-around services, and tackling social determinants of health,” Professor Terry writes.

“However, these proposals often are more diffuse, the strategies unclear, and the funding (if any) of dubious sustainability.”

Instead, “the real ‘solution’ is to attack the social and structural determinants of health upon which addictions attach like parasites and build resilient social and healthcare structures prepared to effectively resist the next epidemic,” Professor Terry says.

The post is part of a symposium from speakers and participants of Northeastern University School of Law’s annual health law conference, Diseases of Despair: The Role of Policy and Law, organized by the Center for Health Policy and Law.

Professor Terry, along with Professors Aila Hoss and Ross Silverman serves on a research team funded by the Indiana University Addictions Grand Challenge and responsible for the report Legal and Policy Best Practices in Response to the Substance Abuse Crisis.