Professor Terry Speaks on Latest Opioid Crisis Research
01/17/2024
Professor Nicolas P. Terry, Hall Render Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Hall Center for Law and Health at IU McKinney spoke on a panel titled “Policy and Regulatory Opportunities to Address the Opioid and Overdose Crisis in 2024” organized by the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE).
The past year brought about several major policy changes that aimed to better address the nations opioid and overdose crisis. These included the removal of the X-Waiver requirement to prescribe buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder, as well as the approval of the first 1115 demonstration waivers to use federal Medicaid to pay for certain health care services inside jails, prisons, and youth correctional facilities during the last 90 days of a person’s incarceration. However, with drug overdose deaths rising in the past year to over 110,000 people for the first time, there is still much more to be done.
FORE grantees have identified additional policy and regulatory opportunities that can help stem the tide of the crisis. The Bipartisan Policy Center has been conducting policy analysis and developing educational materials to inform and engage policymakers in Congress and the presidential administration. Their efforts have yielded substantial insights and opportunities for change. In addition, Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research, alongside Prof. Terry from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, have identified 84 opportunities to align laws and drug policies at the federal, state, and local levels in ways that reduce the risk of overdose and other harms.
Professor Terry’s FORE grant-sponsored project (along with Temple University) is entitled “Stop Overdose Deaths: Monitoring Comprehensiveness of State Policy to Prevent Overdose Deaths.
The event took place on Thursday, January 15 and included Regina LaBelle, J.D., director of the Addition and Public Policy Initiative, O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown Law Center; Michele Gilbert, M.P.H., Senior Policy Analyst—both from the Bipartisan Policy Center who spoke on their project “Reviewing the SUPPORT Act and FY2023 Omnibus to Assess Federal Levers Addressing the Opioid Crisis.”
