Transcripts For CSPAN3 House Members On Opioid Crisis 201710

Those are only two of my good things. I dont want to tell you about the bad things. But he really helped me. I had had had somebody that guided me and he had a very, very tough life because of alcohol, believe me. Members of the u. S. House met recently about combatting the Opioid Epidemic. They also shared their own stories in dealing with opioids and other drugs. Subcommittee will come to order and for an opening statement. In the midst of a fierce battle against an epidemic by opioids. This crisis has touched every corner of american society. Whielt new england and the regions represent states hardest hit by the epidemic. Health officials from the south and reaching across the Mountain West all reported growing over dose deaths in those counties. The latest deaths is astounding. 91 americans died every day from an over dose. Now more than ever we must come together and strengthen our commitment to fight this malady. I expect todays member state will bring to the forefront key insights and solutions on this critical issue. The energy in Congress Committee led several bipartisan initiatives. And the comprehensive Addiction Recovery alct and the 21st century act are now law at the state and local levels. Much needed policy changes are being implemented. The inflicted passage of kara and cures. As a result, patients now have greater access to evidencebased treatment, adiksz Treatment Services and over dose reversal therapies. Cures on the other hand provided 1 billion in grants for states to support an array of prevention treatment and Recovery Services. I believe these initiatives are making a significant difference. And other issues have emerged from this fight. Earlier this year they responded to reports of people over dosing on heroin laced with fentanyl. The ready availability of these synthetic opioids have become a Public Health threat and illegal Online Pharmacies operating in Foreign Countries are exacerbating this every day for our state and federal officials. Todays hearing will allow us to gain member perspective on existing ways to combat the Opioid Epidemic. Representatives on and off the energy and Congress Committee will testify, share their stories and propose legislative solutions for our consideration. In advance i want to thank house members for participating in this discussion and we look forward to hearing from everyone whos going to be before us today. Let me yield what little time i have left to the vice chairman of the subcommittee, mr mr. Guthrie. Obviously im going to be brief. So many families have been devastated by this. Had all these different scenarios but when you see it in reality, i was in owens burrow one evening and met a mom the mom of an athlete and honor student who had had her acl torn playing soccer, was prescribed pain killers. After her recovery she was addicted and turned to heroin and passed away due to an over dose. This is a sad story repeated through all groups, all areas and something im looking forward to hearing all the testimony today to look for ideas to further do what congress has done for kara and moving forward as well. Chair now recognizes the Ranking Member of the subcommittee, mr. Green. Thank you, mr. Chairman. The sentrs for Disease Control and prevention has called for Prescription Drug over dose and an epidemic has found drug over dose to be the leading cause of injury death between 1999 and 2010 the death rate from prescription pain killers only continued to rise. In 2015 more than 52,000 people died of drug over doses in america. About 2 3 were linked to opioids. The New York Times found that 59,000 to 65,000. Today more than 2 million have use disorders and the rate of heroin over doses has increased dramatically and the rise is directly linked to the Opioid Epidemic. In 2010 approximately 3,000 drug poisoning dects were connected to heroin. And only continues to rise. Theres no community that hasnt been touched by this crisis and some have been ravaged by it. So much is needed to combat it when communities across the country are being torn apart. And the state targeted response of the Grant Program. It provided money to states to address the Opioid Epidemic. Extending this money is a crucial part of any continued response to the epidemic. We need an approach that employs Proven Health strategies and spans the entire spectrum from prevention and recovery and Crisis Response and expanded access to treatment and life long recovery tools. The Affordable Care act is part of our efforts to fight the epidemic. Those with disorders have access to treatment through medicaid that didnt before the aca thanks to the Medicaid Expansion. Unfortunately americans fighting addiction live in states that refuse to expand their Medicare Programs like texas are left out in the cold. For those in the individual markets, all plans must include services for Substance Use disorders and consumer kzinate be denied coverage because of a history of Substance Abuse. This is not a small feet, roughly 1 3 of all individual market policies didnt cover mental substance treatment. It covers provision and remove 5. 5 billion annually for the treatment of people with mental and Substance Use disorders. And scrap the Medicaid Expansion states would be absolutely devastating to our fight against Prescription Drugs and heroin addiction crisis. The largest cries in our country has known and this is not time for Health Care Safety nets. Im excited to hear from my colleagues and to combat the Prescription Drug epidemic. We need a solution that targ thts entire spectrum of addiction. Prevention, Crisis Response for those who fall through the cracks and expanding acstees treatment and providing support for recovery. We must be guided by science and avoid stigmas and not fall into the traps, misconceptions about proven treatment strategies. I look forward to advancing new strategies and funding to turn the side of this growing crisis and really help families and communities that desperately need it and i yield back my time. Gentleman yields back. I make an organizational note. We are going to be hearing from energy and commerce members. Theyre welcome to give their testimony from the witness tale, which ever they prefer. Were going to move to our first panel, chairman upton, and chairman lada and agon youre welcome to testify from the table or so chair recognizes chairman of the full committee, mr. Walden. I i come here today on behalf of my constituents like i do every day but especially today with our opportunity for all members to make their case to the energy and commerce committee. We want to welcome them and i think as our colleagues on both sides we have already said all of us in all of our communities face these challenges related to drug over doses. I held a round table day before yesterday in bend, oregon where we learned a lot about the problems were facing and some of the successes. And the importance of the work were doing here. Its a heart breaking epidemic thats been featured on the frupt pages of our local newspapers, on National Television as part of the story from orfriends and Family Members. Reasonable estimates forecast more than 90 americans die from opioid over doses each day while more than a thousand are treated each day for abusing oopioids. More than 64,000 died and in oregon alone more people died lash year from drug over doses than from Car Accidents. I recently held round tables in Southern Oregon to see how we could better combat this crisis and what more can be done is crucial to our efforts to end the scourge. Theyve led a number of bipartisan initiatives to help address the epidemic, initiatives that are now law like the comprehensive addiction and recovery act and resources are becoming avail nl and important policy changes are being implemented to stem the tide of opioids. They improved evidencebased treatment for those with Substance Abuse disorders and it it made sniignificant changes i over dose reversal medications. The new law also included criminal justice and Law Enforcement related provisions. The cures act provided a billion dollars in grants for states, the first of which was to be administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. My state of oregon received a 6 1 2 million in grants. However, so much more work needs to be done. Since that act, other issues have emerged. Such as the proliferation of fentanyl and its an logs. And then their are allegations of pill dumping. Ive heard the all too familiar tale of the mother whose oldest son was preskiebed opioids after injuring a knee in basketball and became addicted. And after years of bouncing between addictions, he spoke about how better tracking and treatment could have helped catch his sisters problem earlier, perhaps made counseling more effective. As it was she was only caught because two pharmacies in a small town happened to check with each other. You see by then it was too late though. These two stories may have come from oregon but theyre not exclusive to the beevor state. Theyre why were here today. Addressing the Opioid Epidemic provides an allhandson deck effort. Im looking forward to hearing feedback and input to hear about whats working and whats not and find ways to compliment our existing law and address emerging issues. So i appreciate everyone here today. With us taking time to participa participate, together we must continue to fight this Opioid Crisis in amare cu. And i yield back. Gentleman yields back. And to reiterate the format for today, members are invited to either give testimony for the witness table or the diish, which ever they prefer. So ill recognize frank from new jersey for five minutes. Thank you. Todays member day provides us the opportunity to hear from our colleagues about how the epidemic is uniquely effecting their districts as well as additional efforts to help those effected by this crisis. Like all communities across the its having consequences in my home state. Drug over doses are the leading cause of accidental death. According to the centers for Disease Control, there was a 16 increase in drug over dose, deaths in new jersey between 2014 and 2015. And last year drug over dose deaths topped more than 2,000. And unfortunately were continuing to see increased deaths from this tragic epidemic. Im proud of the steps this committee has taken to respond to this tragic epidemic that is taking the lives of 91 americans every day. Im pleased that we Work Together in a bipartisan fashion for cara, we also worked together for the state targeted Response Grant Program as part of the 21st sernry cures act and this Program Provides a billion dollars to states to address the Opioid Epidemic. These were positive and bipartisan laws we produced in 2016 during the last year of the obama administration. That was 2016. 2017 has been much different. Congressional republicans have spent much of the year trying to repeal the Affordable Care act which would have prevented millions of americans from getting the help they need to treat Opioid Health disorders and allow insurers to discriminate against those with opioid disorders and would have allowed states to wave the Health Benefits. But thankfully those repeal efforts have famed to date. So whats clear is individuals with Substance Use disorder need us to Work Together to do more. Despite progress in washington, the epidemic has shown no signs of relenting and thats why we must continue to support and increase funding for Proven Health approaches spanning the entire spectrum from crisis to recovery, including expanding access. Those efforts should include more funding and we should extend the Opioid Crisis Grant Program so we can expand even further access to treatment and Recovery Services. I look forward to working together in a bipartisan fashion to help our country respond to this crisis. Gentleman yields back. Chair recognizes the chairman of the energy subcommittee, for upton. This is very important as were able share our personal experiences in the crisis, opioid addiction and abuse. This silent epidemic has for sure torn through families, and communities in my home state of michigan but we know across the country as well. In 2015 there were nearly 2,000 opioid deaths in michigan alone. More than 22,000 babies are born every year across the country with neonatal Opioid Withdrawal syndrome. This terrible epidemic has hit home both in my community and even in my extended family. So this is very personal to me. As it is with so many throughout our communities. The last couple years ive been meeting with First Responders, Crisis Center employees and yes, individuals suffering. All of these folks have said tragically the death toll continues to rise. Thats why weve been taking concrete steps here in this committee to combat the widespread epidemic. Last year the president signed into his sweeping package as part of 21st century cures a bill that everyone of our Committee Members supported. An additional one billion dollars was allocated to the states. And like michigan to address opioid treatment and we received 16 million and that will make a real difference. To those suffering, i just say help is on the way. And as a result of this administrative action, hes helping to lead the charge. They started meeting with experts in academia to talk about ways they can Work Together to address the crisis. I look forward to seeing the results of the research that nih is doing with its industry partners. There are also things we in congress can help nih with in these endeavors. Fist, we need the nih to develop more options. Second, we need the evidence if nih can develop an effective therapy and finally we must acsesellerate nonaddictive pain measures. The sooner we can supply powerful new tools for every community. These efforts cant happen fast enough. And these are some of the many reasons i continue to support robust nih funding. Theres more work to be done and here in congress well continue to take steps to address that epidemic and in this committee were on the front lines for meaningful, Bipartisan Legislation that will make a difference. Together well bring it out of the shadows. Gentleman yields back. Chair recognizes gentleman from new jersey. Three minutes please. Thank you, mr. Chairman and this is the first time ive been on this side and what a fun looking group. Much more fun over here. If it makes the gentleman more comfrtdable we could swear you in. That means id be under oath. The Opioid Crisis is devastating families and communities across new jersey, the state i represent. In 2015 the garden states death rate was 2 1 2 times the sky rocketing u. S. Rate. Were making progress with the implementation of the recovery act of 2016 but more work needs to be done. I acknowledge the efforts of one of my constituents. Claudet has made a positive difference in the lives of those suffering from drug addiction. Her community in crisis helps equip the luved ones of those in pain. None of the progress we have made so far in this fight against drug addiction and opioid abuse would have been possible without the work of people like claudet and organizations Like Community and crisis. Their efrlts are efforts we should make sure congress understands and applauds. Ib2012 Health Care Providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for opioids. They addressed that issue by inreforming and improving the drug approval and label process at the fda. And the first time the congress has rekiered the agency to work with advisory committees before labelling decisions and to make recommendations regarding Educational Programs for prescribers of extended release and long alktingope yids. And encourages the development of opioid abruce properties. And we have to make sure resources such as the grants administered by the substnls abuse and Mental Health Serv