Trump administration extends emergency declaration for opioid crisis

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has signed an extension of a public health emergency declaration to address the opioid crisis in the United States, according to an agency press release.

The extension lasts 90 days and provides the HHS secretary with specific expanded authorities to deal with the declared emergency that are outlined in section 319 of the Public Health Service Act.

The original declaration made in 2017 during the first Trump administration had been set to expire on March 25 and has been renewed before expiration by HHS secretaries serving Trump and his predecessor, President Joseph R. Biden.

“Although overdose deaths are starting to decline, opioid-involved overdoses remain the leading cause of drug-related fatalities,” Kennedy said in the release. “This Administration is going to treat this urgent crisis in American health as the national security emergency that it is. Renewing the Opioid Public Health Emergency Declaration affirms the Administration’s commitment to addressing the opioid overdose crisis and is one of many critical steps we will take to Make American Healthy Again.”

As Healio previously reported, multiple sources have reported decreases in drug-related overdose deaths. In May of last year, the CDC reported decreases in overdose deaths during the previous year for the first time in half a decade that included slight drops in overdose deaths related to opioids and synthetic opioids.

A separate analysis reported in October by researchers from University of North Carolina Injury Prevention Research Center showed a 10% drop in drug-related overdose deaths in the U.S., including decreases in opioid- and fentanyl-related deaths.