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Substance Use-Disorder Prevention That Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act

Floor Speech

Date: Sept. 28, 2018
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Drugs

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Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Pallone for yielding and Chairman Walden for his leadership in bringing this bill to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 6, the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act. This is a critical first step in addressing the opioid epidemic.

I have lived on all sides of this. I lived in a home with a father who was an opioid addict before anyone knew what it was. I had a sister who died of a drug overdose. Yet I also live with a man who has very serious chronic pain and needs opioids to live his life comfortably.

We cannot let the pendulum swing too far in either direction, and we cannot be denying medication to those who need it. I am confident that this legislation strikes the right balance.

This bill has four provisions which I authored included in it:

The ACE Research Act, which I cosponsored with my friend Mr. Upton, will spur innovative research into nonopioid pain medications at NIH and will help lead the next big breakthrough and bring benefits to patients. We need nonaddictive pain drugs.

I am also pleased that Jessie's Law, which I have worked on for years with Mr. Walberg, is in this. This provision, which is named after a young woman we lost far too soon, would require HHS to establish best practices to ensure that medical professionals have full knowledge of their patient's opioid history.

The Safe Disposal of Unused Medication Act fixes a critical gap in our laws by permitting hospice employees from disposing of unused opioids after a patient has passed away or the medication is no longer needed.

Finally, I was pleased to work on language with Dr. Bucshon to ensure that the Welcome to Medicare wellness exam includes a review of the beneficiary's current opioid prescriptions and screening for potential substance use disorder.

As we pass this legislation to combat this epidemic which has claimed so many lives, we cannot forget the 25 million people who do live in pain. We cannot let the pendulum go either way.

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