Opiana is a collection of stories and perspective pieces from medical providers working on the frontline of the U.S. opioid epidemic. We are medical students, residents, attending doctors, and nurses working across the country in public safety-net hospitals, outpatient clinics, and large academic centers. We are moved by the struggles we see every day, and we hope that, by sharing these stories with you, we will all be more motivated to help.
Dr. Marcia Glass is a hospitalist and palliative-care doctor working at University Medical Center, a public safety-net hospital in New Orleans. She has worked abroad with several aid groups, including Doctors without Borders and Partners in Health. She has been struck by the harrowing stories of her patients struggling with opioid dependence in New Orleans and troubled by the lack of an organized national response to this crisis.
Zach Lerner is a medical student at the Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans. He previously worked as a software engineer, and later served as a Naval Flight Officer on an aircraft in the United States Marine Corps, where he deployed overseas. He intends to join in the effort against the major epidemic that is occurring during his medical training.