HHS Renews Opioid Public Health Emergency Status

The Trump administration renewed the opioid epidemic’s status as a public health emergency. The announcement was made via a notice posted online by the Department of Health and Human Services, and extends the public health emergency status by 90 more days.

Despite the declaration, statements from the White House have displayed a desire for cutting the budget of its drug policy office by 95%. The reasoning provided for the cuts has been that they would allow the expansion of telemedicine efforts, as well as allow the administration to make quick temporary appointments for specialists and shift resources from HIV . . .