Governor Charlie Baker returned from Washington Friday night after attending the first meeting of a commission set up by President Trump to examine the nation’s opioid addiction crisis.
The bipartisan panel heard testimony from nine advocacy groups and medical experts, as well as family members who have directly experienced drug addiction, the governor said.
The stories of families whose loved ones are struggling with, or who have succumbed to addiction, were particularly enlightening, Baker said.
“The testimony from the people who spoke at the commission [that] was both informative and, at times, incredibly moving,’’ Baker said Friday night at Logan Airport, after returning from the day on Capitol Hill.
The panel, formally called the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis is chaired by New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie. Its other members are Baker, a Republican; Democratic Governor Ray Cooper of North Carolina; former Democratic Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy; and Harvard Medical School researcher Bertha Madras.
Baker signed a wide-ranging law last year that included limits on first-time prescriptions for opioid painkillers to a seven-day supply.
The law also requires prescription management courses for medical, dental, and pharmacy students studying in Massachusetts. The law, along with treatment methods such as therapy, could help improve addiction medical care, he said.
The panel also held conference calls with lawmakers across the country to develop ideas to establish best practices for addiction treatment.
“There’s a growing consensus about what would be called best practice in addiction treatment,’’ said Baker. “There are a lot of things going on out there that don’t meet that best practice. I hope one of the things that comes out of this is a lot of guidance provided to states, providers, and families on the literature.’’
The commission did a series of conference calls with lawmakers across the country in regards to establishing best practices.
According to Baker, an agenda outlining established best practices for states is “likely’’ to come in July.
He called Massachusetts a “work-in-progress’’ in regards to addiction and said that “We still have a long way to go’’, but remained optimistic in the fact that opioid deaths in Massachusetts are on the decline.
The state Department of Public Health reported last month a slight decline in the number of opioid related deaths in Massachusetts for the first three months of the year, compared to the prior quarter.
Baker also said the commission had a “pretty fruitful and constructive’’ discussion the Senate Finance Committee staff and Health Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee regarding the Affordable Healthcare Act and National Institute of Health.
Jim O’Sullivan of the Globe Staff contributed. Jacob Geanous can be reached at jacob.geanous@globe.com
