Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act of 2015
Floor Speech
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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in strong support of H.R. 471, the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act of 2015. This critical legislation combats inappropriate use of prescription drugs by bringing greater clarity and transparency to the requirements for safe and secure distribution of these medicines.
It accomplishes these goals by clarifying some key terminology in the Controlled Substances Act. This comprehensive approach to the legislation will result in better protections against diversion and abuse of controlled substances.
What it does is it provides the DEA with the clarity to collaborate with the very people responsible for ensuring that these medications get to the patients who need them without hurting and harming that distribution chain and while clamping down on diversions and abuse. These collaborations will lead to improved policies to prevent diversion while allowing legitimate patients to have access to the medications they need.
Now, like so many components and pieces and bills and parts of legislation, the best example of why this is needed is a story that comes from home. In the case of this bill, we had a constituent who called our office after one of the recent ice storms that we saw in middle Tennessee this winter. It seemed as if these storms would never stop. The ice would come, and then it would not melt.
We had a constituent who has a son who has a severe seizure disorder, and he takes three different medicines to control these seizures. Although his medicines are not opioids, two of them are controlled substances. So this mother, taking care of her son, decided she better get herself to the drugstore before the storm hit, and she did just that, to refill his prescriptions. She was anticipating that the prescriptions would run out before the ice melted and she would be able to get to the store.
At the drugstore, she was told that she could not refill them because it was too early. She explained the situation. The pharmacist sympathized, but the pharmacist went on to say if the prescription were to be filled early, there would be problems with the DEA and other agencies.
The pharmacist was worried that his license might be lost.
Our legislation is simply to ensure that patients who have a legitimate need for medications can receive them while we are battling diversion and abuse, which truly is a problem in this country.
So, Madam Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this effort.
I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I think it is so important for us to note that the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Marino) has been the primary author of this legislation and has brought to the table to work on this bill his experience of 7 years as a U.S. attorney--10 years prior to that as a district attorney--and has seen firsthand and dealt with drug diversion, drug enforcement issues, and the needs of the patient.
At this time, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Marino).
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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, as our colleagues have heard today, this is a bipartisan effort, and Mr. Marino has really worked diligently with his team and with all of us on this legislation to make certain that we got it right the first time and we didn't have to come back and revisit it.
I thank him, the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Welch), and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Judy Chu) for the efforts that they have put into this, and also Chairman Pitts and Chairman Upton for the diligence that they have shown to the issue to make certain that we moved the bill through the process.
As I said earlier, this is about access to the supply chain and making certain that those with legitimate needs for these medicines have the ability to access them in a timely manner, also bringing our pharmacists and the DEA into a collaborative process, with clarity, so that they make certain that this supply chain remains open to those that need it and that the DEA has the ability to continue to fight diversion and drug abuse.
Prescription drugs kill more people than heroin. This is something we need to realize is a problem. At the same time, those that need these medicines, we need to make certain that supply chain is clear.
I thank my colleagues for their diligence and their work, and I encourage an ``aye'' vote.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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