House Panel Advances Dozens of Opioid Bills

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has approved 25 bills to address the opioid crisis by connecting overdose victims with treatment services before leaving the emergency room, letting hospice workers eliminate unused drugs, and spurring the National Institutes of Health to find non-addictive pain relievers, reports the Washington Times . If enacted, the proposals would expand the use of "mail-back pouches" to destroy unused pain medication and help the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reduce the rates of HIV/AIDS and other diseases linked to intravenous drug use. In addition, Medicare policy changes would mandate that doctors electronically transmit prescriptions for potentially addictive drugs to lower the incidence of fraudulent or manipulated scripts, while enrollees would learn about the potential dangers of opioid use. The House panel will mark up additional measures next week as Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) pushes to get opioid legislation on the floor by Memorial Day. "We know there is no silver bullet, no one-size-fits-all approach that will remedy the catastrophic effects of this crisis over the last decade," he says. "But much can be done to help vulnerable persons get the treatment they want and need, and to ensure these powerful drugs are not getting into the wrong hands."