Telehealth provides flexibility that addresses barriers to substance use disorder treatment, but more research on its efficacy is needed and providers want more training and technical assistance,…

With opioid overdose deaths and stimulant use on the rise, FDA director Janet Woodcock highlighted for Rx Summit attendees several of the administration’s top initiatives to meet the challenge.

U.S. Rep. David Trone discussed the merger of his Freshmen Working Group on Addiction with the Bipartisan Opioid Task Force on Thursday at the Rx Summit. Rep. Lori Trahan, meanwhile, said she is reintroducing legislation to standardize SUD training for prescribers.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shared the ways in which the U.S. State Department is working with other nations and various groups to disrupt the sophisticated operations of transnational criminal drug trade organizations.

Today’s addiction crisis is not the same as those that preceded it, and while there are reasons for concern, CDC director Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, told Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit attendees in a session presented Wednesday morning that she also sees reasons for hope.

To overcome setbacks in combating the nation’s opioid crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, policies and resources will need to be crafted in ways that address systemic inequities that have exacerbated challenges for specific populations, Acting Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Tom Coderre told Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit attendees on Wednesday evening.

ONDCP acting director Regina LaBelle outlined the seven priorities that will guide the administration's first year, and Admiral Charles Ray, vice commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, explained how working with partner law enforcement agencies has helped in cracking down on maritime drug trafficking.

U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers told Rx Summit attendees on Tuesday that PDMPs are a great defense against the nation’s opioid threat, but concerns remain in a number of areas, including the future of Purdue Pharma. Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. Tom Cole, meanwhile, said the pandemic has heightened the need to double down in the opioid addiction fight.

NIH director Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, and NIDA director Nora Volkow, MD, provided Rx Summit attendees with an update on several Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) projects that include treatment interventions and research around drug use trends.

Acknowledging that addiction is a crisis that “touches families in every community in red states and blue states, across all races and creeds,” President Joe Biden told Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit attendees in prepared remarks presented on Monday that his administration will face the challenge head-on.