There are solid numbers that capture the current economic burden of the opioid epidemic. Estimating what it’s going to cost to fix the crisis is another story. “The notion of abatement is that we want to deal with the problem that exists, but also to begin to remedy it,” said Christopher Ruhm, a UVA professor of public policy and economics who worked for several years on a 30-year abatement plan for Oklahoma as part of that state's case against several drug companies.