CNN | April 24, 2019
Regina LaBelle, a former chief of staff and senior policy adviser at ONDCP during the Obama administration, told CNN that though prescribing rates are going down, the White House should also be emphasize that individuals struggling with addiction still need access to medication-assisted treatment and some still need treatment to address their chronic pain.
“I’m a little concerned with hearing about, how, (they’re) kind of patting themselves on the back for decreasing opioid prescribing rates,” LaBelle, now at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, said. “It’s too soon to declare victory. And we haven’t seen two years of decreasing overdose rates so there’s no trend yet.”