Latest Patrick J. Kennedy Quotes from Interviews

• You don't fight cancer with grants, or heart disease with grants.

  Patrick J. Kennedy

  Cancer, Heart, Fighting

  "Gingrich, Kennedy Take On Opioid Addiction - The KHN Conversation". Interview with Shefali Luthra, khn.org. July 7, 2016.

• People are going to keep getting prescribed medication that is counter to what their real disease state is, which is addiction.

  Patrick J. Kennedy

  Real, People, Addiction

  "Gingrich, Kennedy Take On Opioid Addiction". Interview with Shefali Luthra, khn.org. July 7, 2016.

• Our contention is not that medication alone is the answer. We really need to have it in conjunction with cognitive behavioral therapy and with peer support. And that needs to be reimbursed [by health insurers], because it shows huge reductions in overall spending.

  Patrick J. Kennedy

  Support, Needs, Peers

  "Gingrich, Kennedy Take On Opioid Addiction - The KHN Conversation". Interview with Shefali Luthra, khn.org. July 7, 2016.

• Opioid replacement therapy is the standard evidence-based model to treat people with acute opioid addiction, and that is unassailable according to every research study that's been done. If that is the evidence-based model, then why can't we meet the large-scale need that's out there? We can't because one, there aren't enough doctors who can prescribe [drugs like methadone], and two, there are these artificial limits [by insurers] on who doctors can prescribe to.

  Patrick J. Kennedy

  Doctors, Two, People

  "Gingrich, Kennedy Take On Opioid Addiction". Interview with Shefali Luthra, khn.org. July 7, 2016.