News Releases

Despite persistently high smoking rates, the Hoosier state’s spending on tobacco control is 11 percent of federal recommendations, less than half of the national average. INDIANAPOLIS (June 5, 2018) — Comprehensive tobacco control efforts play a powerful role in reducing smoking and the health and economic toll of the smoking epidemic. But Indiana woefully underfunds these initiatives, falling far below federal recommendations and dollars spent in other states, a report released today by the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation shows. Indiana devoted just $8.2 million in federal and state spending in 2016 to preventing Hoosiers from starting to smoke, helping them quit, and protecting people from secondhand smoke. This is only […]

Educating doctors about best practices for prescribing pain medication has been proven to curb prescription drug misuse, yet time and cost constraints keep many physicians from accessing such training. To ensure clinicians receive this education and to help curb Indiana’s opioid epidemic, state medical leaders are launching a comprehensive medical education program focused on best practices for prescribing opioids and treating patients who suffer from pain. The Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation has awarded $230,000 to fund the program, which the Indiana State Medical Association (ISMA) will launch later this year as the first of its kind in the state. ISMA will offer the opioid-prescribing courses to Indiana’s thousands of doctors, […]

Our President and CEO, Claire Fiddian-Green, recently spoke with Philanthropy Hour podcast host, Greg Cherry, about the Foundation, its focus areas and, specifically, its role in combating the opioid epidemic in Indianapolis.