AIRED: June 22, 2020
SPECIAL GUEST: Harry Nelson
CO-HOST: Dr. Matthew Polacheck
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, roughly 21 to 29 percent of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them. Between 8 and 12 percent develop an opioid use disorder. An estimated 4 to 6 percent who misuse prescription opioids transition to heroin. Opioid overdoses increased 30 percent from July 2016 through September 2017 in 52 areas in 45 states. And most alarming, opioid overdoses in large cities increase by 54 percent in 16 states.
When Michael Jackson died of a drug overdose in 2009, his doctors – panicked by the coming investigation – called Harry Nelson. Over the past 15 years, this pattern was repeated in one deadly celebrity overdose after another.
For over a decade, Nelson has been the leading legal expert on prescribing practices, pain treatment, addiction and behavioral health. He has become known for turning healthcare safety disasters into learning opportunities out of which safer, better healthcare can emerge. The founder of L.A.’s largest healthcare firm, Nelson Hardiman, Nelson advises government regulators and policymakers on most sensitive and challenging emerging health policy issues.
In his latest book, The United States of Opioids, Nelson delivers critical insights about the Opioid Crisis, along with a roadmap for strategies for the way out. He shares an essential and fascinating history of how opioid addiction grew roots into our culture, and lays out the case for why we cannot afford to continue our current, failing approach to pain management and opioid addiction.
Nelson provides a gripping healthcare insider account that includes case studies and information that is equally meaningful to patients, doctors, caregivers, and healthcare providers, and anyone who cares about the future of America. In this not-to-be-missed interview, he shares how his breakthrough book is a powerful guide to understanding the deeper roots of the crisis beyond health policy; he explains how we became a nation imprisoned by pain and how we can break free to reclaim our rights, our lives, and our health
ABOUT Harry Nelson
Harry Nelson has been called “America’s #1 healthcare lawyer” and a “leading expert on our healthcare future”. In 2009, he became one of the first lawyers in the country to develop a framework for compliance in cannabis, helping to shape California law and pushing for expanded clinical research on other plant-based controlled substances, and continues to play a leading role in the expansion of telehealth and machine learning in medicine.
Nelson’s latest book weaves together his deep dive into the challenges of treating America’s pain epidemic, the growing problem of addiction, and the overdose deaths.
