House-Senate Conference Report on Combating Opioids Passes House

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(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The final text of comprehensive legislation to curb opioid and heroin abuse passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday and included a provision authored by Eighth District Congressman Larry Bucshon, M.D.
Bucshon served on the special conference committee comprised of members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate that negotiated legislative differences between both chambers. The group met on Wednesday to agree on the final legislative text of S. 524, the Comprehensive Addiction Recovery Act sending the bill to the House floor for a vote where it passed today by a vote of 407 to 5.

“Drug overdoses in Indiana have increased five-fold in the past decade. The effect of this rapid growth has been devastating to our families and our communities,” said Bucshon. “The comprehensive legislation we sent to the Senate today will help states like Indiana combat the growing opioid abuse epidemic. It will give hope to families and it will save lives.”  

Bucshon’s legislation, H.R. 4981, the Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Expansion and Modernization Act, was an integral part of the final package approved by the House. H.R. 4981 helps expand access to medication-assisted opioid addiction treatment, ensures patients have access to a wider range of comprehensive, evidence-based treatment options, and minimizes the potential for drug diversion

The package heads to the Senate for approval where it will then be sent to the President.

 

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1 COMMENT

  1. While harm reduction is an accepted treatment, it should be coupled with behavior modification. My experience with Indiana medically assisted treatment centers is they are private with little incentive to administer behavior modification. With these MATS facilities it is all about the billing. I call them “Hotel California” because you can check in but rarely check out. The explosion in opiate addictions are something Larry should be familiar with since the greatest precentage of patiences are physician overprescribed opiate medications. Physicians have almost no addiciton training. Therefore Larry’s sponsorships simply means private, addiction, treatment centers with reap huge benefits with little behavior modification. These centers need to be run under within either the state or federal control. NOT private.

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