WASHINGTON — A Senate panel on Tuesday introduced a comprehensive congressional plan in response to the growing opioid addiction epidemic.
The bipartisan bill comes as the death toll from prescription opioid addiction continues to skyrocket. In 2016, over 42,200 Americans died from an opioids overdose, according to the latest CDC data — five times higher than in 1999.
The epidemic has affected every state in the country, making the issue a top priority on both sides of the aisle.
Congress has previously addressed the crisis by giving agencies more funding to research solutions and distribute grants, such as the $3.3 billion that was included in the massive omnibus spending bill last month. But critics said that interagency reform, not just funding, was necessary for long-term results.
The ambitious new measure, now under consideration in the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, includes 40 bipartisan proposals intended to drastically expand the ability of multiple government agencies to address the ongoing crisis.
Provisions in the bill would encourage further research at the National Institutes of Health to develop nonaddictive painkillers, urge the Food and Drug Administration to recommend certain limits on the number of opioids prescribed to a patient, and call on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to collect more data about overdoses, which officials can then use to more effectively combat the epidemic.
The legislation also includes Jessie’s Law, a proposal that would give doctors greater access to medical records documenting a patient’s addiction history.
The White House last month released the outlines of its own three-pronged approach to combating the epidemic, which would prioritize decreasing opioid overprescription, expanding access to treatment and curbing the supply of illegal drugs entering the country from elsewhere. The proposal drew controversy over President Donald Trump’s suggestion that some drug dealers be subject to the death penalty.
Legislation to aid law enforcement efforts to combat the epidemic fall under the jurisdiction of the Senate Judiciary Committee, although the measure introduced Tuesday does outline requirements for the FDA and Custom Border Patrol to more effectively detect and seize illegal drugs, like fentanyl, that cross U.S. borders.
The panel is aiming to move the bill through the committee by next week and send it to the full Senate for consideration. Their House counterparts are planning to move forward on similar proposals by Memorial Day.
Filed under: General Problems
The 2nd paragraph says it all. The MSM keeps the BIG FAT LIE going, that it is a PRESCRIPTION opiod “epidemic”!
It is so evident and obvious that the problem is ILLEGAL HEROIN & CHINA WHITE FENTANYL to everyone except the government, because there’s no way they can stop this and there is NO MONEY in it!!!
The editors of the mainstream media are told by the government what stories they can cover, so even if some investigative reporters wanted to do our story, it’s shot down by their editors! Now that’s not true for the smaller papers and some local TV reporters, but for national news the fix is in.
No one, including the government can fix a mental health problem which is what addiction is. There will always be a substance to abuse, but the government has to have their money, and kill off the pain patients, the poor, sick, disabled and elderly because the boomers cost too much for them to take care of. Both parties are guilty, but the evil of the Republican Party has come to light with their so-called entitlement reform to privatize Social Security, put Medicare into a voucher system and get rid of Food Stamps and Medicaid.
Wake up everyone, the Democrats are communists and the Republicans are socialists with not much of a distinction between the two.
more bad bills based on cdc falsified numbers.