Dr. Harold Tu joins HHS task force to combat opioid epidemic: 5 quick facts

Harold Tu, DMD, MD, was appointed to the federal Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force created by the HHS.

Here are five quick facts.

1. The task force was created after the passage of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016. This was the first federal addiction legislation.

2. As a member of the task force, Dr. Tu is charged with proposing updates to best practices and recommending solutions to gaps or inconsistencies in managing chronic and acute pain.

3. Dr. Tu is an associate professor and director of the division of oral and maxillofacial surgery at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry in Minneapolis.

4. He has previous experience developing best practices for prescribing opioids. Dr. Tu spearheaded the university's mandate in 2016 that rolled out new evidence-based prescribing protocols in its clinics.

5. With Dr. Tu's efforts, the university has seen a 70 percent decline in opioid prescriptions. Dr. Tu also emphasizes the importance of teaching students new prescribing protocols.

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