Opioid Town Hall Set For This Weekend At Emory School Of Medicine

ATLANTA -- Leaders of the Medical Association of Atlanta have announced that the nation’s opioid epidemic, its impact on the people of Georgia, fighting addiction stigma and offering hope to both patients and physicians will be the subject of a town hall meeting in February.

Recently, Georgia’s government filed a lawsuit accusing drug companies of swamping the state with pain-relief products and profiting from users’ addictions. The state attorney general said pharmaceutical companies should be held accountable for more than 1,000 opioid overdose deaths in Georgia in 2017. The nation’s opioid crisis has cost thousands of lives and had an economic impact exceeding $1 trillion from 2001 to 2017, according to researchers.

New Hope for the Opioid Epidemic will be held on Saturday, February 9, 2019 at 10 a.m. at Emory University School of Medicine, 100 Woodruff Circle, Atlanta, Georgia 30322. The event is free and open to the public.

Speakers include Dr. Ira Horowitz as moderator; Dr. Martha Wilber, president, Medical Association of Atlanta; Dr. Patrice Harris, president-elect of the American Medical Association; Jim Langford, executive director of the GA Prevention Project; Allie Armbruster, offering A Story of Hope; and Dr. Justine Welsh, program director, Emory Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Services, discussing medication assisted treatment, myths and reality.

Established in 1854, the Medical Association of Atlanta promotes health and safety through physician leadership. A nonprofit association, the MAA is dedicated to the advancement of organized medicine in the Atlanta area. Atlanta Medicine, the MAA journal, is published six times each year.

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