Bipartisan opioid bills have unanimous committee support
May 11, 2018
The Energy and Commerce Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives advanced several bills to improve access to care for individuals suffering from substance use disorder, provide the health care system with tools and resources it needs to care for patients, and help prevent future misuse of opioids.
Included in the markup were two of U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson’s (R-NC) bipartisan bills: H.R. 5687 and H.R. 5041.
“These bills are commonsense measures to safely and responsibly get rid of unused opioids,” Hudson said. “Addressing leftover opioids on the front end with packaging and on the back end with disposal will help eliminate the leftover drugs that find their way from medicine cabinets to the streets.”
H.R. 5687, the Securing Opioids and Unused Narcotics with Deliberate (SOUND) Disposal and Packaging Act, is a bipartisan bill Hudson introduced with Rep. G. K. Butterfield (D-NC). The bill would encourage and promote improved packaging and disposal methods with respect to opioids and other medications. Specifically, this bill would:
- Direct the FDA to work with manufacturers to establish programs for efficient return or destruction of unused Schedule II or III opioids. These methods could include mail-back pouches to secure facilities for incineration or methods to immediately inactivate or render unattractive unused drugs;
- Facilitate utilization of packaging that will help reduce diversion, overprescribing, or abuse of Schedule II or III opioids; and
- Require the Government Accountability Office to study new and innovative technologies that claim to be able to safely dispose of opioids and other unused medications.
H.R. 5041, the Safe Disposal of Unused Medication Act, is a bipartisan response to the opioid crisis that will help prevent the misuse or diversion of unused medications by equipping hospice professionals with the legal authority to safely dispose of unused drugs after a hospice patient’s death.
Issues:Health Care