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Pallone Opening Remarks at Full Committee Markup of Opioid Bills

May 17, 2018

Washington, D.C.Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) delivered the following opening remarks today at a Full Committee Markup on opioid bills:

Today's markup focuses on proposals to address the opioid epidemic. I applaud all of the Committee members for their hard work on these bills, especially given the accelerated timeframe. I also appreciate the Chairman working with us to reach agreement on the majority of these bills as we worked together to craft strategies that make positive changes in the communities around the country devastated by this epidemic.

We are in a good place with many of the bills in front of us today, and there are a number of bills that make incremental changes that will bolster our efforts to combat the opioid crisis.

I am concerned, however, that there are bills missing from today's markup that are critically important to our overall legislative effort. For example, Mr. Green's legislation, H.R. 5803 was favorably approved out of Subcommittee, but it was deliberately excluded from today's markup. This bill would give FDA the authority to assess whether or not a drug could be subject to misuse or abuse as part of the drug approval process before entering the market. Without this authority, the FDA could and has allowed drugs to enter the market, only to be abused and misused substantially, requiring a withdrawal of the product.

This bill is commonsense legislation, especially in light of the lessons this Committee has learned regarding the role our drug supply chain played in the rise of the opioid epidemic. We should take every step possible to prevent American consumers from unnecessary exposure to harm and risk of addiction.

Further, I am disappointed that the Chairman is playing politics with a priority of many members of this Committee. The Addiction Treatment Access Improvement Act, introduced by Mr. Tonko, would have an immediate effect on the availability of treatment in our communities by increasing the number of providers capable of treating patients with medication assisted treatment. We all know treatment is critical to preventing fatal overdoses that take the lives of more 115 people each day and helping individuals with opioid use disorder achieve recovery. Unfortunately, the Chairman has decided to combine that bill with a controversial proposal that would gut the Part 2 patient consent requirement and result, in my opinion, in less people receiving potentially life-saving treatment for opioid use disorder. I cannot support that bill and a strongly object to any efforts to play politics with life-saving interventions.

Mr. Chairman, we have made progress but our work is far from complete. I hope to continue to work with my colleagues on today's list of opioids bills, in addition to the others moving forward.

Thank you, I yield back.

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Issues:Health