Festival of Ideas presents ‘Opioid Crisis in America’ with Dr. Petros Levounis
Event is at 4 p.m. Aug. 17 at 4 p.m. in the Fukushima Auditorium at the Health Sciences Center
Join Dr. Petros Levounis as he discusses the opioid crisis of the 21st century. The opioid crisis can be traced back to the 1980s when a catastrophic medical mistake opened the door to liberal prescribing of narcotics. The perfect storm of powerful molecules, complex brain physiology, and an over-aggressive pharmaceutical industry, which capitalized on that original error, lead to the current epidemic.
Levounis will explore the neurobiological underpinnings of the addictive process and its interplay with the psychosocial aspects of the opioid disaster. The lecture will conclude with some good news: treatment works and people recover. We now have robust and safe medications, as well as effective counseling and psychotherapy techniques—and even more are under development—that successfully heal people who suffer from prescription opioid and heroin addiction.
The event will be held August 17 at 4 p.m. in the Fukushima Auditorium at the Health Sciences Center. This lecture is co-sponsored by the Tanner Lecture Series. It is free and open to the public.