Opioid Overdose Deaths Drive New Initiatives From Biden’s HHS

Biden administration plans to allow take-home use of opioid addiction treatment drugs and ease the sharing of substance users’ medical records are steps in the right direction if done carefully, health experts say.

The administration’s evidence-based approach to opioid addiction focusing on lowering harm and increasing support for recovering addicts is novel, health experts say. Its proposed rules on treatment and record-sharing aim to halt the number of overdoses that has largely trended upward since 2015, peaking at about 110,000 predicted deaths in the year leading up to March 2022.

“The people in charge now are very committed to bringing ...