Public Policy Impacts On the Opioid Crisis

Tom Kraus, VP of government relations for ASHP, discusses the important role public policy plays in combatting the opioid crisis. This video was filmed at the ASHP (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists) 54th Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exhibition in Las Vegas.

Tom Kraus, vice president of Government Relations for ASHP: Obviously, the opioids crisis is a national concern. Congress acted a few years ago to provide funding to states to help them respond in their communities. One of the challenges that we see is that pharmacists are not able to provide buprenorphine, so there’s a requirement by the DEA that limits who can prescribe buprenorphine, so even in those states where the state’s scope of practice would allow pharmacists to provide medication-assisted treatment when they encounter a patient in need, because of this DEA limitation pharmacists are not able to do so. We’re working with Congress to identify some solutions there that would allow pharmacists to be those providers that can prescribe buprenorphine.