--- title: Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy Sends Letter to All Doctors on Opioids 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. canonical: https://time.com/4468400/surgeon-general-letter-opioid-addiction/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-26T15:49:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:26.249Z article:section: Health og:title: Surgeon Letter Writes to Every U.S. Doctor About Opioid Epidemic og: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. og:url: https://time.com/4468400/surgeon-general-letter-opioid-addiction/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte39ac837cfb9b4fd/6988a3c8bc6cfcb3b53de608/murthy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Obama Delivers Remarks At National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Surgeon Letter Writes to Every U.S. Doctor About Opioid Epidemic twitter: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. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte39ac837cfb9b4fd/6988a3c8bc6cfcb3b53de608/murthy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Surgeon General Writes to Every Doctor in U.S. About Opioid Epidemic > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=16ab2807-6b6e-4d4d-ad02-83e28ef88f73&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## 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](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 26, 2016 3:49 PM UTC  Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Vivek Murthy. Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Vivek Murthy. Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 26, 2016 3:49 PM UTC The United States surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, has [sent a letter](http://turnthetiderx.org/) 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). “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/). “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/#).” He’s also asking doctors to take a pledge, [here](http://turnthetiderx.org/join/). [According to federal numbers](https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/), 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/), which is also an opioid that can be bought illegally without a prescription. ## Transcript It's not lost on me that every day I come to work, I'm in violation of federal law. [ SOUND ] Good afternoon, thank you for calling Vireo Health. This is Aashna. If you look around, we don't have pictures of Bob Marley, we're not playing his music. This is the setting of a doctor's office, of a neighborhood pharmacy. [ MUSIC ] The perception around marijuana And there's a stigma that's been a huge hurdle for us. Typical to New Yorker's, we were doing it in our own style. Somewhat similar to Minnesota, but a very cautious strict approach. Not every physician can recommend cannabis. Only those who have gone through a special training that is offered by the New York State Department. Of health. The dispensaries is where patients come, nd are able to purchase their medicine so long that they have a medical marijuana ID. And a recommendation from their physician. Currently there are only ten very severe debilitating diseases that we can serve patients for in New York. [ UNKNOWN ] examples would be HIV, cancer, epilepsy, sever spinal injury with spasticity, ALS. And in New York, we're allowed Three forms of these medications. The first, which most closely resembles a medication, is the capsule form. Second would be an oil form, that we are using probably most with out pediatric patients. The final form that we offer here is the vaporizer. Because cannabis is a schedule one drug Is considered federally illegal, medical cannabis products are not eligible for prescription drug coverage. That means that patients who come through our doors are paying out- of- pocket. And can pay anywhere from two to three hundred dollars a month. We're taking something that's been sold illegally for decades, and now we're creating a real market for it. 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