November 2, 2017: An opioid emergency

According to preliminary estimates from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), an estimated 45,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses in 2016. On October 26, President Trump responded to the crisis by declaring it a public health emergency. In this week's episode we'll examine what that means, how we arrived at this point, and why that presidential election likely won't be enough to stem the tide of opioid addiction and overdoses. You'll hear from Howard Koh, Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership, and Michael Barnett, assistant professor of health policy and management.