In response to Jay Ambrose’s Sept. 2 opinion column, “Shift focus to overdoses,” I agree that 72,000 deaths per year from opioids is outrageous.
Unfortunately, most of the members of Congress, the Senate and the president do not. If they did care, they would pass a comprehensive single-payer health-insurance plan for every U.S. citizen, not just themselves. Why do I say this? Because in every essay that I have read on the opioid crisis, it is made clear that people who are sick or injured and don’t have any insurance, or too little, turn to opioids to dull the pain.
With proper treatment, instead of opioids, they could return to good health and be able to contribute to a USA that sorely needs their participation in either the workforce or as a capable parent. I guess Ambrose forgets that he was against single-payer health care and is supporting the people who would enrich themselves at the expense of others.
