The American Academy of Pain Medicine applauds President Trump's declaration of the current opioid epidemic as a public health emergency as an important step in stemming the tide of opioid addiction and misuse. AAPM supports efforts by the federal government and state agencies to better understand and help manage the ongoing crisis of prescription opioids, escalating heroin and illicit fentanyl addiction, and overdose deaths.
At the same time, AAPM remains concerned about the intersecting public health crisis of pain in America and continues to advocate for access to a broad array of comprehensive multimodal, multidisciplinary therapies for pain management. We further urge an escalated effort by relevant federal entities to fund and implement the National Pain Strategy. Together, these efforts can lead to better pain treatment and reduced overall dependence on opioid analgesics.