69 days, 6,000 deaths and no opioids declaration
What it could mean if Trump makes crisis a national emergency
President Trump promised 69 days ago to declare a national emergency to confront the addiction epidemic. Since then, statistics show, more than 6,000 Americans have died of opioid overdoses.
Trump said he’ll formally declare that emergency next week, a two-month delay that he said underscores the meticulous nature of his administration’s response to the crisis.
“We are going to be doing that next week,” Trump said at a news conference Monday, 67 days after he first promised to sign the emergency declaration. “That is a very, very big statement. It’s a very important step. And to get to that step, a lot of work has to be done, and it’s time-consuming work.”
An emergency declaration would be a powerful rhetorical tool in focusing national attention on an epidemic that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, claims 91 lives every day.
The impact of an emergency wouldn’t just be symbolic. It would give the Trump administration novel and untested powers: broad authority to
waive patient privacy laws, divert funds and give immunity to medical professionals and first responders.
Without a formal proclamation, it’s impossible to know which of these powers — some of which could be controversial — Trump intends to use.
Neither Trump nor the White House would explain what’s holding up the proclamation, though Trump suggested that he’s wading through uncharted waters. “And I want to get that absolutely right,” he said Monday.
He’s doing it without two key advisers: Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was fired last month for taking pri- vate jets at taxpayer expense — often traveling to opioid-related events. And on Tuesday, Trump withdrew his nomination for “drug czar” after The Washington Post and 60 Minutes reported Rep. Tom Marino’s role in pushing through legislation to make it difficult for the Drug Enforcement Administration to crack down on shipments of opioids from drug companies to black market dealers.
“If you want to be cynical, it’s one thing to declare we are now in a state of emergency. Well, everyone seems to already know that and understand it. So the question is, what specific logjams are removed?” said Mark Parrino, president of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence. “As this epi-
demic goes on and claims more lives, that question takes on even greater weight.”
Under federal law, the administration has special powers to combat disease when there’s a public health emergency declared by the secretary of Health and Human Services.
Those emergencies are routine. Since August, the HHS secretary has declared 17 public health emergencies to deal with the effects of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate and for the California wildfires. But none for opioids.
Presidents can put even more muscle behind public health emergencies by declaring a state of national emergency, giving the president additional powers to waive Medicaid and Medicare regulations and patient privacy regulations.
That’s what the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis recommended in July.
The chairman of that commis-
sion, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, said last week that it’s “not good” Trump hasn’t declared an emergency. “I think the problem is too big to say that if he had declared an emergency two months ago that it would make a significant difference in two months,” he said at a Trenton news conference. “But I would also say you can’t get those two months back.”
The pharmaceutical industry has been publicly supportive of the commission. Drug company CEOs promoted their products and sought Food and Drug Administration and Medicaid reimbursement rates that would benefit their proposed opioid treatments and alternatives.
The commission will hold its final scheduled meeting Friday.
The White House said the administration is working out the details of the emergency. “Right now, these actions are undergoing a legal review,” White House assistant spokesman Ninio Fetalvo said.