The President’s Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) just released a new report on how to beat back America’s opioid crisis. The CEA highlighted as potential solutions measures like curbing illicit drug trafficking, reducing over-prescribing in doctors’ offices, and cracking down on drug distributors fueling the epidemic for profit.

Those are noble goals, to be sure. But the CEA report lacks one crucial element in fighting this crisis: nurse practitioners.

About 72,000 Americans died from a drug overdose last year, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Over two-thirds of those deaths were from opioids. To put that in perspective, drug overdoses killed almost the same number of Americans last year as car crashes and guns—combined.

But the U.S. is suffering from a severe shortage of primary care professionals; a whopping 80 million Americans lack adequate access to primary care. The shortage is particularly bad in rural areas, where patients are “almost five times as likely to live in a county with a primary care physician shortage compared to urban and suburban residents,” according to a 2018 UnitedHealth Group report.

This presents a serious problem for those seeking substance-abuse treatment. Without access to primary care professionals, addicted patients struggle to receive the care they need. Right now, nearly 80% of Americans addicted to opioids aren’t receiving treatment.

Empowering nurse practitioners to treat addiction—and removing unnecessary restrictions at the state level—can go a long way in liberating American patients.

Nurse practitioners, or NPs, are well positioned to help patients get the care they deserve. Equipped with graduate degrees and advanced clinical training, NPs are qualified to assess patients, order and interpret diagnostic tests, develop treatment plans, and prescribe medications in all 50 states.

LINK: https://time.com/5612549/opioid-crisis-nurses/