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John Mills, DO, a long-time HSC faculty member, has been appointed to serve on the Texas Opioid Abatement Fund Council by Governor Greg Abbott.

Drug overdose deaths increased 34 percent in Texas from 2019 to 2020. The Council’s duties include developing the approved Texas list of abatement strategies based on the existing national list of opioid abatement strategies and approving expenditures and the release of funds acquired through legal settlements with the manufactures of opioids. The terms expire at the pleasure of the Governor.

“It is vitally important that we ensure this money is spent on strategies that actually improve lives and reduce the number of deaths caused by addiction,” Dr. Mills said. “Overdose death is an enormous problem that had not gone away.”

Dr. Mills, an Associate Professor at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, founded the university’s correctional medicine program that provides much-needed medical care for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. An ardent supporter of HSC, Dr. Mills has created five endowed scholarships to support the education of the university’s students.

Also appointed to the Council were Ron Enriquez, an Austin Police Department detective, and Katherine Yoder, Vice President of Government Relations with Parkland Health and Hospital System.

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