Dr. Bertha K. Madras is a professor of psychobiology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and was selected as one of six commissioners on the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. The Commission, which was established by President Trump in the spring of this year and chaired by Governor Chris Christie, was charged with studying and combating the scourge of drug addiction, drug abuse, and opioids in the United States. Dr. Madras played a leading role in the Commission’s work, and she calls their final report, which was released in early November, a “blunt force instrument to get agencies as well as states and local governments and humans responsible for [the crisis] to move and change.” In this interview, Dr. Madras discusses with us the key recommendations of the report as well as richly detailing the process in which the report came together and her roles and experiences in that process.
Hosted by Steve Morrison. Produced by Alex Bush. Edited by Ribka Gemilangsari.
