Federal Advocacy Update: Shatterproof Tips the Scale

It’s been a busy two weeks on Capitol Hill for Shatterproof, full of meetings with lawmakers, journalists, and fellow advocates as we helped shape legislation tackling the opioid crisis.

On Tuesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee advanced the bipartisan Opioid Crisis Response Act with several Shatterproof-supported amendments added to the bill. On Wednesday, the House Energy & Commerce Committee concluded its Health Subcommittee markup, advancing 57 opioid bills to the full Committee stage.

One of these bills, the RESULTS Act, introduced by Rep. Steve Stivers, is a top priority that Shatterproof has advocated for in Washington. When explaining why the bill was included in the markup, Health Subcommittee Chairman Michael Burgess cited the testimony of Shatterproof CEO and Founder, Gary Mendell, at last week’s roundtable event and his passionate support for requiring that more federal funding go to evidence-based prevention and treatment activities. We’re pleased to see the bill move along, and look forward to working with the Committee to strengthen the amended version.

In addition to the RESULTS Act, the Health Subcommittee favorably reported to the full Energy and Commerce Committee a number of bills that Shatterproof supports as viable solutions to the opioid epidemic. As the bills move to the full Committee markup in early May, we continue to advocate for improving the House approach by including:

• A requirement that states meet minimum standards in order to receive funding for Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs);
• A three-day limit for opioid prescriptions for acute pain; and
• Minimum training on best practices to prevent, identify, and treat opioid addiction when obtaining or renewing a Drug Enforcement Administration license to prescribe controlled substances.

Earlier in the week, we were also encouraged by some of the amendments added to the Opioid Crisis Response Act by the Senate HELP Committee, including an amendment from Sen. Maggie Hassan to ensure more students graduate from medical school with the training needed to prescribe medications to treat addiction. Another amendment from Sen. Rand Paul would codify regulations that allow physicians to prescribe medications for addiction to up to 275 patients (the limit used to be 100 patients). Shatterproof supports the inclusion of both of these amendments.

The results out of the House and Senate markups were both concrete steps towards creating a comprehensive opioid bill that both chambers can agree on, but there is significant work left. As always, we’ll keep you posted on the latest developments and continue pushing for a comprehensive approach to addressing the opioid epidemic in bold, meaningful ways.