Overdose resurgence amid pandemic fuels debate over treatment access measures

Abstract

Widespread reports in recent months of a resurgence in opioid overdoses and related problems as the nation combats COVID‐19 are intensifying the call for greater flexibility in ensuring access to treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). This is leading in some quarters to support for making some recently implemented emergency responses permanent, though there remains a general consensus that not enough concrete outcome data is yet available to fully evaluate the measures' impact so far.