Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. In 2014, more than 1,100 Hoosiers died as a result of drug poisoning – greater than the number of fatalities from car accidents – with prescription opioid misuse and heroin use responsible for a majority of these deaths. In response to the growing crisis, in 2015 the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation established a goal of reducing opioid use disorder, including prescription drug misuse and heroin use. The number of opioid-related overdose deaths continued to climb nationwide in the following years, reaching upwards of 2,400 deaths in Indiana alone. In 2017, the opioid crisis was formally declared a […]

Claire Fiddian-Green is the President and CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. Opioid addiction is taking an undeniable toll on Hoosiers struggling with addiction, their families, and Indiana employers and communities. In an ideal world, we could keep people from becoming addicted to prescription pain medicine or using heroin in the first place through comprehensive prevention programming for youth, parents, teachers and employers. There is much more we could and should be doing when it comes to prevention in Indianapolis and across the state. But as we focus on scaling up prevention efforts, we also must ensure those who are suffering from opioid use disorder get connected with the […]