Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act of 2016

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. DeSAULNIER. Mr. Chairman, let me say how happy I am to be here in a bipartisan spirit on this important issue of the opioid epidemic in this country.

I rise, obviously, to support this particular amendment, and I thank my colleague from Georgia (Mr. Carter) for being a partner in this effort.

Our amendment simply clarifies that grants authorized under this bill may be used to develop multi-State interoperable Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs. PDMPs are one of the most important tools in the fight against prescription drug abuse.

All of us come here today from separate starting points. For me, like many others, it was because of parents of children who were lost to this epidemic.

Bob and Carmen Pack were constituents in an affluent suburb of San Francisco, which is in my district and is formerly in my State legislative district, who took their two young children, Troy and Alana Pack, out for a walk to the local ice cream shop for a treat on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, a woman, who was later convicted of abusing and doctor shopping for opioids and also of using alcohol, swerved across the street, killing Troy and Alana and almost killing Carmen Pack, who was expecting at the time. Fortunately, she survived and had a child.

Bob, a software engineer, proceeded to put his energies into updating the California PDMP to make it electronic, to make usable in realtime, and to make it effective in trying to control opioid addictions. He partnered with multiple attorneys general in California to see this effected.

As a State senator, I was able to partner with them to institute a program and fully fund CURES, the California PDMP that allows for the realtime monitoring of prescriptions. It went from 13,000 users in the course of a year to over 200,000 users, and it is now fully implemented.

One of the weak points of the CURE system in California is its inability to communicate with other systems as they are developed around the country and the ability for people who abuse these products, including organized crimes, to go to other States. So it is important at this point, as States start to develop these sophisticated but very cost- effective systems, that we establish them in such a way that they are interoperable.

While doctors and pharmacies work hard to prevent anyone from filling unneeded orders, it is more difficult to stop doctor shopping by individuals who visit multiple doctors and pharmacists in an attempt to obtain more opioids. Some individuals who are addicted will cross State lines--and, obviously, organized crime will do so--to avoid their States' prescription drug monitoring systems. Unfortunately, many State programs are not interoperable with neighboring States and do not coordinate and share this information effectively.

To improve the success of these programs, our amendment explicitly states that these funds can be used to promote interoperability and data sharing between States. Our amendment is a small step towards improving existing systems, and it will help States better understand patterns of interstate drug trafficking.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. DeSAULNIER. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter).

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. DeSAULNIER. I thank Mr. Carter and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for supporting this commonsense amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source