--- description: United States surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, has sent a letter to every doctor in the United States asking them to help solve the problem of opioid addiction. title: Surgeon Letter Writes to Every U.S. Doctor About Opioid Epidemic image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte39ac837cfb9b4fd/6988a3c8bc6cfcb3b53de608/murthy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [opioids](/tag/opioids/) ## opioids Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Surgeon General Writes to Every Doctor in U.S. About Opioid Epidemic ## Video: Watch: Inside One of New York’s First Medical Marijuana Dispensaries [Watch (HLS stream): Watch: Inside One of New York’s First Medical Marijuana Dispensaries](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8UkmeWNa.m3u8) (2:15)  _Published 2016-01-22. Tour one of the five facilities that will provide cannabis for medical purposes_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 26, 2016 3:49 PM CUT  Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Vivek Murthy. Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Vivek Murthy.Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 26, 2016 3:49 PM CUT The United States surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, has [sent a letter](http://turnthetiderx.org/ "undefined") to every doctor in the United States asking them to help solve the problem of opioid addiction in the United States. Murthy points out in the letter that overdose deaths from opioids have quadrupled since 1999, and prescriptions for powerful painkillers have risen to the point that there’s enough for[ every American adult to have a bottle of pills](http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2016/images/08/25/sg.opioid.letter.pdf "undefined"). “I am asking for your help to solve an urgent health crisis facing America: the opioid epidemic,”[ Murthy writes in his letter](http://turnthetiderx.org/ "undefined"). “Everywhere I travel, I see communities devastated by opioid overdoses.” Murthy is asking doctors to educate themselves on the addictiveness of painkillers, citing the fact that 20 years ago, doctors were urged to be more aggressive about pain treatment. “Many of us were even taught – incorrectly – that opioids are not addictive when prescribed for legitimate pain,” he writes. He is also asking physicians to screen the people they say for opioid abuse disorder and provide them with “[evidence-based treatment](http://turnthetiderx.org/treatment/# "undefined").” He’s also asking doctors to take a pledge, [here](http://turnthetiderx.org/join/ "undefined"). [According to federal numbers](https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/ "undefined"), 78 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose, and that from 2000 to 2014 alone, close to half a million people died from drug overdoses. Pain killer addiction is also giving rise to an [epidemic of heroin addiction](http://time.com/3946904/heroin-epidemic/ "undefined"), which is also an opioid that can be bought illegally without a prescription. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4468400/surgeon-general-letter-opioid-addiction/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4468400/surgeon-general-letter-opioid-addiction/"},"headline":"Surgeon General Writes to Every Doctor in U.S. About Opioid Epidemic","datePublished":"2016-08-26T15:49:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:13:46.583Z","description":"He's asking doctors to help curb the addiction epidemic","url":"https://time.com/4468400/surgeon-general-letter-opioid-addiction/","keywords":["opioids","Letter"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte39ac837cfb9b4fd/6988a3c8bc6cfcb3b53de608/murthy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte39ac837cfb9b4fd/6988a3c8bc6cfcb3b53de608/murthy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Obama Delivers Remarks At National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit","caption":"Obama Delivers Remarks At National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/opioids/","name":"opioids"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4468400/surgeon-general-letter-opioid-addiction/","name":"Surgeon General Writes to Every Doctor in U.S. About Opioid Epidemic"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch: Inside One of New York’s First Medical Marijuana Dispensaries","description":"Tour one of the five facilities that will provide cannabis for medical purposes","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/8UkmeWNa/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-01-22T18:39:32.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8UkmeWNa.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4468400/surgeon-general-letter-opioid-addiction/","duration":"PT2M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4468400/surgeon-general-letter-opioid-addiction/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```