Opinion: Forget Trump's 'public health emergency.' Real action on the opioid crisis is coming from the FDA

The Trump administration has so far completely botched the national response to the opioid epidemic. More than two months after President Trump described the epidemic to reporters as a “national emergency” and a week after Trump promised to declare it so, the White House stopped short of that designation. Instead, it opted to declare a “public health emergency,” waiving some health-care regulations for states and promising other initiatives in the weeks to come.