Alex Cohen is the Director of Learning and Evaluation for the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. The opioid epidemic continues to take a devastating toll in Indianapolis and across the state. While there are no silver bullets, there are interventions that have strong evidence for impact. Chief among them is medication-assisted treatment, or MAT. MAT is often controversial because of the common misconception that it simply substitutes one drug for another (i.e., methadone for heroin). On the contrary, medications like buprenorphine and methadone provide a limited dosage to reduce cravings and withdrawal and help individuals with opioid use disorder on their path to recovery. Most importantly, it works. There is ample […]

Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. There are many important efforts underway across Indiana to tackle the opioid epidemic. Stakeholders in the public, private and non-profit sectors – first responders, health systems, government agencies, employers and others – are allocating significant resources to help Hoosiers struggling with addiction find effective treatment, to help family members impacted by a loved-one’s addiction receive support and services, to make it harder for people to access opioids illegally, and to reduce the negative health consequences often associated with addiction. Most of these efforts are focused on addressing the challenges that occur when someone has already become addicted […]