Opioid Epidemic Public Health Emergency Extended

On March 18, Department of Health, and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. renewed the public health emergency on America’s opioid crisis for an additional 90 days. The public health emergency was initially declared under President Trump's administration in October 2017 and was scheduled to expire on March 21, 2025. 

The 90-day renewal enables the agency to:

• Facilitate voluntary information collections.
• Expedite demonstration projects related to substance use disorder treatment.
• Expedite support for research on opioid use disorder treatments.

According to Secretary Kennedy, “[a]lthough overdose deaths are starting to decline, opioid-involved overdoses remain the leading cause of drug-related fatalities. This Administration is going to treat this urgent crisis in American health as the national security emergency that it is.”

Prior to the initiation of the public health emergency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that more than 72,000 individuals died from drug overdoses in 2016. This number peaked at over 114,000 deaths in 2023. As the nation progresses toward recovery, overdose deaths in 2024 were estimated at approximately 84,000—reflecting a promising 25% decrease from the previous year.

As the universally acknowledged experts in pain management, anesthesiologists have been at the forefront of implementing best practices to reduce opioid utilization and consumption for patients. ASA will continue working with numerous regulatory agencies, health care organizations, and other stakeholders to address the opioid crisis.