Opinion: Covid-19 will pass. Will we be able to say the same about the racism it has illuminated?
The Covid-19 pandemic is teaching me that the world can change almost overnight when it faces a big problem.
When President Trump declared a national emergency, my medical practice shifted almost instantly from in-person appointments to telehealth visits. The Drug Enforcement Administration allowed doctors like me to prescribe buprenorphine, a controlled substance used to combat opioid addiction, after a telephone consult, a move experts have been seeking for years. The Department of Health and Human Services waived privacy constraints for telehealth visits, which have long tied up this type of medicine, allowing doctors to use commonly available platforms like FaceTime, Facebook Messenger, Skype, and Zoom to provide medical care.
