Jennifer Whistler: On the Search for Safer Opioids
The opioid epidemic has been called the “deadliest drug crisis in American history” by the New York Times. Overdoses claim the lives of more than 90 Americans each day, and about two million people battle substance abuse disorders stemming from prescription opioids, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
As healthcare professionals, pharmaceutical companies, patients and families grapple with the crisis, researchers are rushing to design safer opioids.