Female Opioid Research & Clinical Experts

A new non-profit foundation named FORCE — Female Opioid Research & Clinical Experts — is an alliance of women with scientific, health policy and medical expertise in opioid addiction and who are well positioned to reduce the stigma and treatment barriers that people with opioid addiction face every day. FORCE honors distinguished women who have served the public good through their efforts in dealing with the opioid epidemic.

FORCE intends to drive awareness of the critical need for ongoing outpatient "evidence-based treatment" and the importance of "staying alive and functional."

FORCE will take on common injustices and treatment barriers rooted in stigma, including: a law enforcement mentality that criminalizes rather than treats opioid addiction, reliance on treatment modalities that are not supported by clinical evidence; and inadequate societal support for access to high-quality addiction treatment, including reimbursement coverage of life-saving medications.

Our responsibility as physicians is to bring evidence-based care to patients who are in need, to help educate families on what that care should look like, to help educate policy makers on what policies should be put into place to support appropriate care, treatment and prevention.

– Dr. Kelly Clark