Advocates for Opioid Recovery (AOR) is an advocacy group founded by Former Rep.
Patrick J. Kennedy
Patrick Joseph Kennedy II (born July 14, 1967) is an American politician and mental health advocate. From 1995 to 2011, he served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Rhode Island's 1st congressional distr ...
, former House Speaker
Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...
and
Van Jones
Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones (born September 20, 1968) is an American news and political commentator, author, and lawyer. He is the co-founder of several non-profit organizations, a three-time ''New York Times'' bestselling author, a CNN host and c ...
, a former domestic policy adviser to former United States President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
.
[ October 19, 2017.]
Activities
The group's activities have included publishing op-eds and providing interviews to push for
opioid addiction
Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a substance use disorder characterized by cravings for opioids, continued use despite physical and/or psychological deterioration, increased tolerance with use, and withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing opioids. Op ...
treatment.
As paid advisers for the group, Kennedy, Gingrich and Van Jones have conducted a number of joint interviews with various media outlets, ranging from Fox News to the New Yorker.
The group's social media campaign "#LetsTrumpAddiction" is aimed at encouraging President Trump to reaffirm his commitment to ending the
opioid crisis
The opioid epidemic, also referred to as the opioid crisis, is the rapid increase in the overuse, misuse/abuse, and overdose deaths attributed either in part or in whole to the class of drugs opiates/opioids since the 1990s. It includes the sign ...
.
Positions
Gingrich, Kennedy and Jones have called for Congress to fix the national shortage of physicians who are certified to prescribe opioid recovery medication, as well as the laws that restrict the number of addicted patients a physician can treat in a year. They have called for insurance companies to start covering treatments with medication in the same manner as they cover treatments for any other chronic disease. Additionally, they have called for drug courts to encourage treatment with medication as part of sentencing.
[Newt Gingrich, Patrick J. Kennedy and Van Jones. ]
Funding
According to ''
STAT News
STAT, Stat. , or stat may refer to:
* Stat (system call), a Unix system call that returns file attributes of an inode
* ''Stat'' (TV series), an American sitcom that aired in 1991
* Stat (website), a health-oriented news website
* STAT protein, a ...
'', Gingrich stated he had no idea who was funding the organization.
[ According to '']USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'', the organization is funded by a grant from Braeburn Pharmaceuticals.[
]
References
External links
Official Website
Addiction organizations in the United States
Drug policy organizations based in the United States
Healthcare reform advocacy groups in the United States
Health policy in the United States
Pharmaceuticals policy
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