The Louisiana Department of Health released the recommendations of an expert panel on how to address the opioid epidemic in Louisiana.
The recommendations call for improving access to non-opioid treatments for pain, expanding access to effective treatment, establishing a quality improvement system for treatment providers, treating addiction as a chronic illness, expanding the use of peer recovery specialists and investing in models of care that support women and families.
The Department of Health is accepting public comments on the recommendations through the end of the month. More than 400 Louisianans died of opioid overdose in 2017, a 20% increase over 2016.
The panel included Dr. Rochelle Dunham, the former director of behavioral health for the state; Dr. Joseph Kanter, a leading state public health official; and Dr. Sarah Hamauei, a Shreveport specialist in addiction medicine.
Over the course of two months the group reviewed information gathered from a public comment period and four public meetings, the last an all-day meeting in Baton Rouge on Oct. 5.
