Opinion: A call to action from a CEO on the front lines of the opioid crisis

My company, Alkermes, has been at work since the late 1990s developing and bringing to patients a medicine that helps them fight addiction to opioids. As we set out on that path, CEOs of larger companies urged me to reconsider that decision. They pointed out that addiction is a difficult disease with challenging patients, a fragmented treatment system, and plenty of stigma. We went ahead anyway, convinced in the power of our science and the compelling medical need.

Since that time, we have learned the hard way that there are significant impediments to getting people the treatment they need; that strong opinions — often unsupported by data — can dominate the public discourse on addiction; and that shifting from anecdote-based to evidence-based treatment is an extremely difficult endeavor.

Addiction, once seen largely.