Veterans Opioid Abuse Prevention Act
Floor Speech
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the gentleman's Veterans Opioid Abuse Prevention Act. It was about 10 years ago to the day that we stood on this floor when I had a piece of legislation, one of the first ones I authored as a Member of Congress, the stepped-care pain management for the prescription of opioids in the VA, and I remember delivering a speech right here that if we don't do something about what is happening with the overprescription, we are going to be in a situation of crisis, I think, were the terms that I used.
At that time, we started talking about multiple approaches to pain management. At the time we brought it up, the VA did not even want to consider things like acupuncture and yoga, and now we are at a situation where the gentleman is exactly right. Even with that, moving forward, according to the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law, between 2010 and 2015, the number of veterans addicted to opioids rose 55 percent to a total of roughly 68,000. This represents about 13 percent of all veterans currently prescribed opioids.
Various published studies have found that there is a significant increased risk of suicide among our veterans and the general U.S. population when opioid use disorders are apparent.
H.R. 3832, as amended, will require VA to enter into a memorandum of understanding with a State-based prescription drug monitoring program in order to further reduce opioid misuse and dependency.
By requiring VA to partner with the prescription drug program, the VA can better ensure veterans are receiving the most appropriate treatment available while significantly reducing the likelihood of abuse.
We have an ethical responsibility to do everything we can in this country to reduce the opioid epidemic, certainly amongst our veterans. It is a step in the right direction to prevent the overprescription of opioids to veterans so that we can start preventing those veterans becoming addicted in the first place. I stand in strong support of this.
Mr. Speaker, as stated, this is a good piece of legislation, smart move forward, and I encourage my colleagues to vote for it.
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