Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Jerome Adams is President Trump’s nominee for U.S. Surgeon General. Darron Cummings/AP hide caption
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Darron Cummings/AP
Darron Cummings/AP
Several weeks before President Trump nominated Indiana’s state health commissioner Jerome Adams to be the next U.S. Surgeon General, Adams toured the Salvation Army Harbor Light detox center in Indianapolis, Ind., the only treatment facility in the state for people without insurance.
His supporters say the visit is an example of how he’s prioritized the opioid epidemic during his tenure as Indiana’s top health official. Addiction specialists and advocates say he’s led important progress in implementing lifesaving policies. They believe that if confirmed, Adams would use his on-the-ground experience to guide national policy.
“I believe that Dr. Adams understands the value of community grassroots efforts, that they should be included at the table with decision makers,” says Justin Phillips, founder of the prevention-focused group Overdose Lifeline, who toured the detox center with Adams. “They need to understand what’s realistic in the field.”
A practicing anesthesiologist, Adams was appointed Indiana Health Commissioner by then-Gov. Mike Pence in October 2014. Four months into the job, he announced an HIV outbreak in rural Scott County, Ind., after health workers documented 26 cases of HIV there. By May 2015, the number of confirmed infections had risen to 158, spread almost entirely through injection drug use. 88 percent of them also tested positive for hepatitis C. Today, the number of confirmed HIV cases has reached 219.
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