In Case You Haven't Heard…

Last week at the Rx Summit in Nashville, there were many important speakers and meetings. But what was not expected was that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, and Pam Bondi, Attorney General, would be there speaking. These two Trump appointees have been, on the one hand, called anti‐science and cut the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration out of existence, and on the other, focused on punishment instead of treatment. It was an odd choice for speakers at a gathering of the country's top substance use disorder treatment, prevention, and recovery professionals. Granted, it is a conservative organization, politically, with a focus on abstinence. But some attendees told ADAW the speaker choice was disrespectful. Secretary Kennedy was due to speak on Thursday, after our production deadline for this issue. We will let you know if there was a Q&A and he responded. Next week.