Nora Volkow: Taking Steps to Help Patients In Pain Into the Future

There have been big steps taken to help combat the opioid abuse epidemic but there is still much more work to be done. Several leading organizations and pharmaceutical companies to help patients with overdose and prevent abuse in the first place.

As the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse Nora D. Volkow, MD, has seen the progress that has been made since long before taking on her current role in 2003. Volkow said she believes that the work that has been done in the past few years can make a big difference as more progress is made going forward.

One of the biggest steps she pointed to is the development of Naloxone which helps prevent overdoses from becoming fatal. While there have been arguments against the use Volkow said without this treatment there is no chance to help patients overcome their addiction to opioids and other medications. There are also other medications being developed to help address this issue on a larger scale.