Six governors of New England states spoke on a Harvard Medical School panel in Boston Tuesday, saying healthcare professionals need to be involved in efforts to combat opioid addiction and regulate painkiller prescriptions, the Boston Globe reports.
Although the politicians discussed numerous initiatives and efforts to prevent opioid addiction, they ultimately branded the problem a public health crisis.
Many of the audience members who attended the discussion were healthcare professionals.
"You all as prescribers have the key to the solution of this problem," Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin told the audience, according to the report. "You have the power, not us."
The governors urged physicians and other healthcare professionals to get more involved in efforts to tackle the opioid epidemic, but did not completely shy away from their own responsibilities as policymakers.
According to the Globe, several of the states represented on the panel already participate in opioid prescription monitoring programs, but the governors also promised to ramp up prescription control efforts in their respective states.
"We, as a country, need to be more aggressive," Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker told the Globe after the panel.
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