Speakers Highlight Impact of Opioid Crisis at All Better Care by Monitoring All Prescriptions (ABC-MAP) Program Board Meeting

News provided by

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Sep 15, 2015, 11:11 ET

HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, a national public health expert and a consumer advocate with a compelling family story of drug addiction spoke on the opioid crisis at the September board meeting of the All Better Care by Monitoring All Prescriptions (ABC-MAP) Program.

Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, associate dean for Public Health Practice at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and former Maryland Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene, addressed an innovative approach to implementing a prescription drug monitoring program.

Also speaking at today's meeting was Jason Snyder, executive director of the Consumer Health Coalition in Allegheny County. He shared his family's tragic struggle with opioid abuse and his own successful recovery from drug addiction.

"The Department of Health is continuing work on implementing the provisions of the ABC-MAP law, specifically the design and implementation of a comprehensive prescription drug monitoring program," said Department of Health Secretary Dr. Karen Murphy. "It is critical that we continue to provide information to the ABC-MAP board of directors and the public at large about preventing opioid abuse. Our speakers provided valuable insight to support our efforts."

The goal of the board, which was created under Act 191 of 2014, is to develop policies and procedures to expand the state's prescription drug monitoring program.

The board's members are:

  • Secretary of Health Dr. Karen Murphy
  • Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine
  • Secretary of the Department of Human Services Ted Dallas
  • Secretary of the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs Gary Tennis
  • Insurance Commissioner Teresa Miller
  • Aging Secretary Teresa Osborne
  • Acting State Police Commissioner Tyree Blocker
  • Attorney General Kathleen Kane
  • Secretary of State Pedro Cortes

The board will reconvene in October. For more information, visit the Department of Health website at www.health.pa.gov.

Media contact: Amy Worden, DOH, 717-787-1783

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Health

Related Links

http://www.state.pa.us

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

icon3
440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers
icon1
9k+
Digital Media
Outlets
icon2
270k+
Journalists
Opted In
GET STARTED