North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein will present the keynote address at a daylong conference in Asheville on July 19th on the ethical issues healthcare professionals face when treating patients who are struggling with opioid use disorders (OUDs) and substance misuse.
The Attorney General will provide an update and discuss the ethics of North Carolina’s formal response to the opioid crisis.
“Confronting the opioid crisis is one of my top priorities as Attorney General,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “An average of three people die each day of an opioid overdose – making this the most grave public health and public safety crisis we face today. I look forward to learning about the work medical professionals in Western North Carolina are doing to confront it and how the state can help.”
The conference features medical experts affiliated with the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) and Mission Health who are working on the front lines of the opioid epidemic. Presentations and panel discussions will focus on the ethics surrounding OUD treatment in pregnancy, neonatal abstinence syndrome, infectious disease, and the impact of personal bias and stigma on treatment outcomes.
Participants will have a chance to explore potential ethical dilemmas associated with medication-assisted treatment, management of opioid withdrawal in newborns, treatment of opioid-related endocarditis, and harm-reduction approaches.
Evidence-based decision making tools will be identified to help healthcare providers and patients navigate difficult treatment choices.
Discounted registration fees are available for students, some healthcare professionals, and participants who register before July 12, 2018.
More details and registration information are available at www.mahec.net/opioidethics.