OUR COMMUNITY

40 | MAY 19 • 2022

A

merica’s opioid crisis is about more
than a few villains in the medical
and pharmaceutical industries, says
Harry Nelson. He will address the topic as
the guest speaker at this year’s Nelson Legacy
Event June 8-9 at Congregation Beth Shalom
in Oak Park.
At the keynote lecture at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, June 8, Nelson will explore the
roots of the opioid crisis in terms of over-
doses and addiction and suggest ways to
confront the problems. At a lunch-and-learn
program at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 9,
Nelson will offer a Jewish response to the
opioid crisis, exploring timely sources from
the Torah to modern commentary.
Nelson, 54, is the son of the congregation’s
Rabbi Emeritus David Nelson and his wife,
Alicia Nelson. He grew up in Southfield,
attending Hillel Day School and Southfield
High School before earning degrees from the
University of Michigan and the University of
Michigan Law School.
He lives in Los Angeles with his wife,
Dorit. They have two sons and two daugh-
ters, ages 14 to 21. He is a partner in a

20-attorney firm, Nelson Hardiman LLP
,
which specializes in healthcare and life sci-
ence issues.
He has written two books about health
care in the United States, From ObamaCare to
TrumpCare: Why You Should Care, co-authored
by Rob Fuller and published in 2017, and
The United States of Opioids:
A Prescription for Liberating a
Nation in Pain, published in
2019. He has received numer-
ous awards for his efforts,
including the Behavioral
Health Network’s Advocacy
Award and the Spirit Award
from CLARE Matrix.
Nelson says he thinks of
the opioid problem as a series
of related but distinct crises
around pain (a problem
for 20 percent of American
adults), a crackdown on doctors who pre-
scribe pain medications and the way phar-
macies deal with opioid dispensation.
“By the early 2010s, I had gotten very
involved in advising addiction treatment and

mental health programs, and I began to get
multiple phone calls every month from pro-
grams round the country dealing with drug
overdose deaths in facilities,
” he said.
He found the work to be gripping but was
disturbed that he was called in only to clean
up the mess after problems presented them-
selves. “I became obsessed with overdose
prevention,
” he said.
As he thought about the opioid crisis,
he was bothered that discussion seemed to
focus on looking to blame “villains” such as
Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family and per-
missive doctors, rather than delving into the
structural problems that drove the crisis. He
strove for a more solution-based approach.
“The pandemic accelerated the problem,
taking overdose deaths over the 10,000-per-
year mark, and the need for action became
more pressing,
” he said. “I have come to the
view that, while societal solutions are a ways
off, there are powerful lessons for all of us in
our lives and in the outreach we can make to
the people close to us.
”
After publishing the book, he was invited
to join the national board of Project Opioid,
working on overdose prevention.
Admission to the Wednesday keynote
lecture, which includes a dessert reception, is
$15 in advance and $20 at the door. A Zoom
option is also available. Admission to the
lunch-and-learn program, with food provid-
ed by Bloom Kosher Catering, is $25, and
reservations are a must. Reservations can
be made by emailing the synagogue at cbs@
congbethshalom.org or calling the office at
(248) 547-7970.
Rabbi David and Alicia
Nelson started the Nelson
Legacy Fund in 2010 to provide
educational and operational
support for the community,
including Congregation Beth
Shalom, which Rabbi Nelson
served for 36 years.
Co-sponsors include
Congregation Beth Shalom,
the Detroit Jewish News the IRP
of the Jewish Community
Center, the Maimonides Society
of the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, the Jewish Addiction
Resource Alliance (a specialized program of
Jewish Family Service) the Tri-Community
Coalition Preventing Substance Abuse
Together and the Nelson Legacy Fund.

Nelson Legacy Event
Tackles Opioid Crisis

Health care expert Harry Nelson to be guest
speaker at Congregation Beth Shalom event.

BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Harry
Nelson