Drug-involved overdose rates and deaths have been increasing at alarming rates across the country, and a majority of those deaths have been attributed to opioids in recent years. Amid the growing crisis, the National Institutes of Health started the Helping to End Addiction Long-Term Initiative (HEAL) to study and address the opioid epidemic. HEAL Director Dr. Rebecca Baker discusses the strides NIH has taken to help advance science for pain management, barriers for substance use disorder treatment and other critical pieces to addressing opioid misuse and addiction.
Listen: Inside the Trans-NIH Effort to Address the Opioid Crisis
