Congress’s new spending deal commits more money to combat an opioid epidemic that’s led to hundreds of thousands of drug overdose deaths since the late 1990s. But while experts and advocates welcome the funding, there are a few reasons for caution.
To deal with this, Dr. Leana Wen, the health commissioner of Baltimore, has suggested “a Ryan White for the opioid epidemic” — a reference to the program, launched in the 1990s, that created a health care safety net for people with HIV and communities hit hardest by the disease. The idea is to create a source of funds that officials on the ground know they would be able to rely on for years to come.
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