On June 16, the Michigan Society of Addiction Medicine (MISAM) sent a letter to legislators in support of SB436, which would allow a county medical examiner or county health officer in Michigan to establish a drug-fatality review team. These teams would empower a county medical examiner or deputy county medical to further investigate fatalities as a result of a drug overdose or suspected overdose. 

MISAM's letter praised the legislation for creating another avenue by which counties in Michigan can collect data on the impact of the state's addiction crisis. MISAM's letter also urged the legislature to slightly change the legislation. Specifically, SB436 should be amended to list board-certified addiction medicine specialists as a group that is permitted to participate in the drug-fatality review team. Addiction medicine specialists are uniquely trained to understand the disease of addiction, and their inclusion on a drug-fatality review team will bring an invaluable perspective that is otherwise missing from these teams as currently conceived by this legislation.

Read the letter here.

Read the bill here.