Tackling an Epidemic: New and Emerging Opioid Addiction Treatments Offer Hope for Solutions to This Crisis

The opioid epidemic is dominating news headlines and inspiring greater calls for political action in the United States. While opioid addiction isn't a new issue, its devastating consequences are now being felt across the country. "What's got everybody's attention is that so many people are dying," says Dr. Richard Ries (Figure 1), director of the University of Washington School of Medicine?s addictions divisions and medical director of the Outpatient Addictions Program at Harborview Medical Center, Seattle. "Currently, the top reason for early death in people under 50 is now overdose-more than cancer, AIDS, or accidents. The bulk of those overdoses involve opioids."