[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 212 (Friday, November 1, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Page 58726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-23941]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2019-N-0001]


Office of Minority Health and Health Equity Public Meeting on 
Strategies To Improve Health Equity Amidst the Opioid Crisis; Public 
Meeting

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA, the Agency, or we) is 
announcing the following public meeting entitled ``Office of Minority 
Health and Health Equity Public Meeting on Strategies to Improve Health 
Equity Amidst the Opioid Crisis.'' The purpose of this public meeting 
is to share information and obtain the public's perspectives on the 
current opioid crisis and how it specifically affects racial and ethnic 
minority, underrepresented, and underserved populations across the 
country, approaches to prevent and treat opioid use disorder, and 
emerging research to improve care, and explore how FDA can support 
those efforts.

DATES: The public meeting will be held on November 21, 2019, from 9 
a.m. to 4 p.m. See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for 
registration date and information.

ADDRESSES: Hilton Washington, DC/Rockville Hotel & Executive Meeting 
Center, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852, 301-468-1100.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jovonni Spinner, Food and Drug 
Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 32, Rm. 2384, Silver 
Spring, MD 20993, 301-796-8729, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Office of Minority Health and Health Equity's (OMHHE) mission 
is to ``promote and protect the health of diverse populations through 
research and communication that addresses health disparities.'' Racial 
and ethnic minorities have experienced an increase in opioid-involved 
overdose deaths over the past few years. For example, the rate of 
opioid-involved overdose death nearly doubled among Black/non-Hispanic 
populations between 2015 (6.6 per 100,000 population) and 2017 (12.9 
per 100,000 population) (Ref. 1). It has also been shown that racial 
and ethnic minority populations suffer from chronic pain at higher 
rates than other populations and the evaluation and treatment for pain 
management may vary across ethnic groups (Ref. 2). The opioid crisis is 
a multifaceted issue and our aim is to convene diverse stakeholders to 
stimulate dialogue that will highlight and bring about solutions to 
improve the health of the communities we serve. Meeting discussions 
will inform future programming for the OMHHE.

II. Participating in the Public Meeting

    Registration: To register for the public meeting, please visit the 
following website to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fda-omhhe-strategies-to-improve-health-equity-amidst-the-opioid-epidemic-tickets-70822278341. Please provide complete contact information for each 
attendee, including name, title, affiliation, address, email, and 
telephone. Anonymous registration is available. Registration is free 
and based on space availability, with priority given to early 
registrants. Persons interested in attending this public meeting must 
register by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, November 15, 2019. Early 
registration is recommended because seating is limited; therefore, FDA 
may limit the number of participants from each organization. 
Registrants will receive confirmation when they have been accepted. If 
time and space permit, onsite registration on the day of the public 
meeting will be provided beginning at 8 a.m. We will let registrants 
know if registration closes before the day of the public meeting/public 
workshop.
    If you need special accommodations due to a disability, please 
contact Jovonni Spinner at 301-796-8729 or [email protected] 
no later than November 7, 2019.
    Streaming Webcast of the Public Meeting: This public meeting will 
also be webcast: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fda-omhhe-strategies-to-improve-health-equity-amidst-the-opioid-epidemic-tickets-70822278341.

III. References

    The following references marked with an asterisk (*) are on display 
at the Dockets Management Staff, (HFA-305), Food and Drug 
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852, and 
are available for viewing by interested persons between 9 a.m. and 4 
p.m., Monday through Friday; they also are available electronically at 
https://www.regulations.gov. References without asterisks are not on 
public display at https://www.regulations.gov because they have 
copyright restriction. Some may be available at the website address, if 
listed. References without asterisks are available for viewing only at 
the Dockets Management Staff. FDA has verified the website addresses, 
as of the date this document publishes in the Federal Register, but 
websites are subject to change over time.

1. Henry, J., Kaiser Foundation, ``Opioid Overdose Deaths by Race/
Ethnicity.'' Available at: https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/opioid-overdose-deaths-by-raceethnicity/?dataView=2&activeTab=graph&currentTimeframe=0&startTimeframe=18&selectedDistributions=white-non-hispanic--black-non-hispanic-hispanic&selectedRows=%7B%22wrapups%22:%7B%22united-states%22:%7B%7D%7D%7D&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D. Accessed on September 9, 2019.
2. Campbell, C.M. and R.R. Edwards, ``Ethnic Differences in Pain and 
Pain Management.'' Pain Management, vol. 2(3), pp. 219-230, 2012.*

    Dated: October 28, 2019.
Lowell J. Schiller,
Principal Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2019-23941 Filed 10-31-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4164-01-P