4sight Health Features Article on the Potential of NFL Leadership to Combat America’s Opioid Crisis

Business Wire

by Richard A. Kimball, Jr. and David W. Johnson

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Opioid abuse and addiction is an American healthcare crisis. The article, Mile High Potential: NFL Veterans Tackle America’s Opioid Crisis, digs into the social catastrophe created by over-prescribed pain-killers and explores the potential of medical marijuana to provide a disruptive, low-cost, non-addictive and highly effective alternative. Co-authors Richard Kimball, Jr. and David W. Johnson, experts in market-driven healthcare reform, build their argument around the compelling perspectives and experiences of seasoned NFL veterans.

To cope with their physically demanding sport, many NFL players consume large quantities of opioid-based pain killers prescribed by team physicians even as the NFL strictly enforces bans on non-sanctioned drugs like marijuana. Former NFL players, speaking out about their negative experiences with opioids and the positive affect that medical marijuana has had on their ability to manage chronic pain and inflammation, are calling for change. As NFL-veteran Eben Britton states in the article, “If the NFL is concerned about players getting high [on marijuana], the reality is they’re already high on opioids. The League has the opportunity to be innovators in sports medicine and to have a positive impact on players’ health by looking more closely at medical marijuana.”

The NFL’s over-reliance on opioid pain killers and its prohibition against medical marijuana mirrors mainstream medical opinion. Kimball and Johnson argue that the NFL, as an influential institution in American society, can help with the search for better solutions to the opioid crisis by funding research into the practical applications of medical marijuana.

Click here to download the PDF and view the full article of “Mile High Potential: NFL Veterans Tackle America’s Opioid Crisis.”

http://www.4sighthealth.com/mile-high-potential-nfl-veterans-tackle-americas-opioid-crisis/

About 4sight Health and David W. Johnson

Dave Johnson is the CEO and founder of 4sight Health, a Chicago-based healthcare consulting firm specializing in thought capital, strategy and venture investing. The company provides a unique perspective on post-reform healthcare that emphasizes market-driven transformation. Mr. Johnson is the author of the just-published Market vs. Medicine: America’s Epic Fight for Better, Affordable Healthcare. He is the author-in-residence at MATTER, the Chicago-based healthcare incubator, and the Health Management Academy. He also writes the widely-read “Market Corner” commentaries and contributes monthly to Cain Brothers’ Industry Insights.

About Richard A. Kimball, Jr.

Richard A. Kimball, Jr. is a Partner of The Costera Group, an investment company. Having spent 30 years at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Millennium Technology Ventures, Kimball now focuses on investing in and building businesses in disruptive new markets. Kimball is an Honorary Trustee of the Brookings Institution and was recently a Fellow in Stanford’s Distinguished Careers Institute. He writes a blog on disruption in healthcare at www.richardakimballjr.com.