Law & Policy Insights

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has temporarily waived or clarified several regulations that may act as barriers to providing life-saving medications to those undergoing treatment for opioid use disorder during the COVID-19 Pandemic. These changes have the potential to dramatically increase access to these medication and the DEA should strongly consider extending many of these changes for the duration of the opioid public health emergency, which will remain even after the threat from COVID-19 subsides.

While decision-making around public disclosure is not new to the field of public health, the presence of the widespread novel coronavirus adds to the public demand for expeditious transparency.

Frequent hand washing is critical to preventing the spread of COVID-19, yet not everyone has easy access to running water. Lack of toilet facilities contributes to a variety of illnesses and can trigger outbreaks of contagious diseases, like Hepatitis A. Along with the homeless, others, including taxi drivers, utility workers, gas and electric service workers, people doing street repair, and people with certain medical conditions can encounter difficulty accessing toilet facilities. Today, access to public toilet facilities is even more restricted in states that have mandated closure of nearly all businesses. However, there are a variety of ways that cities can increase access to clean and safe public toilets.

The devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in over 26 million Americans filing unemployment claims. This rising level of unemployment will push America further into a food security crisis. The USDA’s most recent food security report, published in September of 2019, indicated that 37.2 million Americans were food insecure. Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, estimates that the COVID-19 pandemic will force an additional 17.1 million Americans into food insecurity.

Homeless populations are particularly vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike persons who can home-isolate, homeless persons may be forced to endure additional risks of exposure through their environment.

As the earth’s climate warms and animals and humans relocate to more habitable locations, increased interactions with a variety of wildlife in new and different contexts places humans at risk of new viruses, making preventative measures to reduce pollution and address underlying health vulnerabilities such as asthma, chronic lung disease, or heart conditions even more important.

With schools closing across the country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of children are attempting to continue their education from home. However, there is a serious barrier that threatens to widen educational inequities—the homework gap.

Overview Absent ongoing dialysis treatment or kidney transplantation, end-stage renal disease is a permanent and fatal loss of kidney function. Insured patients…

Overview Death and other negative impacts from drug overdose in general, and opioid overdose specifically,…

The $2 trillion-plus Coronavirus response law, along with two other pandemic-related funding bills earlier this month, provide for a vast array of new federally-funded programs and policies aimed at helping individuals and families battered by a global pandemic and harmed by the economic downturn precipitated by our broad-based public health response. An overarching public health framework can guide the shared work of federal, state and local agencies to implement these new policies and programs.