in this area. As a result, many specific education programs have been proposed and implemented into nursing education institutions. Treatment and effects during COVID-19 pandemic After slight decreases in opioid fatalities 2017–2018, overdose deaths in the US increased in 2019, due largely to an increase in non-medical use of fentanyl. The COVID-19 pandemic's interference with both social safety and health care delivery systems has probably intensified the opioid epidemic. US media, on national, state, and local levels, infer that overdose deaths are increasing. But there is no national reporting system on overdose mortality to confirm these reports. Conclusions on the relationship between increasing overdose fatalities and the COVID-19 pandemic will require more research. Studies, such as those by Wainwright et al. and Ochalek et al. intimate that opioid use and overdose deaths may be increasing, just as reported by the media. But more study is needed. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has marked the start of health care policies that, should they be adopted permanently, could not only lessen the effects of the pandemic on overdoses, but also make overall treatment of opioid use disorder more effective by eliminating obstacles to previously proven therapies for these disorders. According to the US National Institute on Drug Abuse, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic could hit certain populations, such as those suffering from substance use disorders and especially those with opioid use disorder, particularly hard. For opioid use disorder patients, COVID-19's effects on respiratory and pulmonary health is a significant threat. According to an April 2020 Health Affairs journal article "Once The Coronavirus Pandemic Subsides, The Opioid Epidemic Will Rage," recommended potential solutions include requiring doctors in large physician groups to get the federal waiver that would allow them to prescribe FDA-approved mediations to treat addiction. Under the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000, physicians can obtain an "X-waiver" to prescribe buprenorphine. Other studies have looked at treatments for OUD during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, one JAMA Internal Medicine research letter from December 2020 found that since the COVID-19 national emergency declaration, "the number of individuals filling buprenorphine prescriptions has plateaued but has not decreased; however, filled prescriptions for all medications collectively have decreased considerably." Countermeasures US federal government In 2010, the US government began cracking down on pharmacists and doctors who were overprescribing opioid painkillers. An unintended consequence of this was that those addicted to prescription opiates turned to heroin,