U.S. News & World Report: Time for Action on Opioids
The president's budget takes several significant steps back in the fight against opioids.
The opioid crisis is getting worse, and rapidly. In 2015, 33,000 Americans died from opioids. According to the Centers for Disease Control, almost half of those deaths were from prescription opioids. The New York Times reports that in 2016, overdoses from all drugs was the leading cause of death of people under the age of 50. Drug overdoses now kill more Americans each year than at the height of the HIV epidemic and the worst year for auto accident deaths. The Times and drug use experts attribute the sharp rise in all drug overdose deaths to the rise of opioids.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, candidate Donald Trump promised to end the opioid crisis. Let's see how he is doing.
Faculty Referenced by this Article
Nationally recognized health services researcher and sociomedical scientist with 25+ years' experience in effectiveness and implementation research.
![Michelle Keller](https://ph.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2022-07/keller-michelle_500x500.jpg?itok=uJryn-xx)
Dr. Michelle S. Keller is a health services researcher whose research focuses on the use and prescribing of high-risk medications.
![Faculty/staff profile placeholder image](https://ph.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2022-07/person-placeholder.jpg?itok=Yj28CoTl)
Dr. Ron Andersen is the Wasserman Professor Emeritus in the UCLA Departments of Health Policy and Management.
![James Macinko](https://ph.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2022-07/Macinko%2C%20J_500x500_10.jpg?itok=bsG1e-s6)
Professor of Community Health Sciences & Health Policy and Management, and Associate Dean for Research
![Faculty/staff profile placeholder image](https://ph.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2022-07/person-placeholder.jpg?itok=Yj28CoTl)
EMPH Academic Program Director with expertise in healthcare marketing, finance, and reproductive health policy, teaching in the EMPH, MPH, MHA program
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