Worth Another Look: Combatting Opioid Addiction | Buchanan Government Relations

In January of 2016, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) published a list of the top 10 issues that will be before state legislatures across the nation this year. With little expected on the legislative front until September, and since Pennsylvania will close out the 2015-2016 session this Fall, it’s worth a look to see what our own elected officials are doing to address each of the issues. The first topic up for consideration: combatting opioid addiction.

According to a 2014 report issued by the DEA, 3,383 drug-related overdose deaths were reported in Pennsylvania in 2015, an increase of 23.4 percent from the total number of overdose deaths reported in 2014. The presence of heroin or at least one opioid was reported in approximately 81 percent of the decedents. To say opioid addiction is a growing problem is clearly an understatement. The Pennsylvania Center for Rural Affairs, standing committees of the state legislature and the Governor have all held hearings and round tables on opioid addiction and what Pennsylvania can do to stop it.

To date, the Keystone State has made some significant steps toward reducing overdose deaths and combatting opioid addiction. In the 2016-2017 Fiscal Year, just over $20 million will be available to invest in addiction-treatment programs; in particular the Department of Human Services will open 20 Centers of Excellence which will offer treatment to Pennsylvanians with opioid-related substance abuse disorder.

And here: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2016/2016071468.HTM

Additionally, the Governor has issued, through Physician General Rachel Levine, a statewide standing order for Naloxone, a prescription antidote for opioid overdose. The Department of Health has joined a group of medical experts, advocacy groups and other state officials to petition for changes to federal rules regarding best practices for pain management, and the State Board of Pharmacy, the State Board of Dentistry and the State Board of Medicine have voluntarily adopted new opioid prescribing guidelines.

http://www.media.pa.gov/Pages/Health-Details.aspx?newsid=301

http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2016/20160719CY.HTM

The legislature is doing its part to address the issue as well. The House of Representatives has passed the following bills in an effort to address the state’s opioid crisis, based on recommendations from the Joint State Government Commission’s study on “Opioid Prescription Drug Proliferation,” produced pursuant to H.R. 659 of 2014 (Heffley, R-Carbon):

H.B. 1737 (Maher, R-Allegheny), providing for disposal of unused prescriptions;
H.B. 1698 (Heffley, R-Carbone), requiring insurance coverage for abuse deterrent opioids;
H.B. 1699 (Brown, R., R-Monroe), limiting the ability to prescribe opioids in emergency rooms;
H.B. 1805 (Masser, R-Northumberland), requiring continuing medical education in pain management and prescribing practices; and
H.R. 590 (Kinsey, D-Philadelphia), directing the Department of Drug and Alcohol programs to establish a task force on addiction treatment.

Also, the House Democratic Policy Committee and the House Republican Policy Committee will hold joint hearings of the Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) caucus throughout the summer. Co-chaired by Rep. Aaron Kaufer (R-Luzerne) and Rep. Ed Gainey (D-Allegheny), the HOPE caucus is a bipartisan group of legislators committed to addressing the state’s growing opioid and heroin epidemic.

For a schedule of hearings, go to: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2016/2016072170.HTM

On the Senate side, that chamber has passed S.R. 267 (Schwank, D-Berks), directing the Joint State Government Commission to establish an advisory committee to study issues relating to the need for effective addiction treatment, and S.B. 1202 (Yaw, R-Bradford), amending the Achieving Better Care by Monitoring All Prescriptions Program (ABC-MAP) Act providing for continuing education requirements in pain management and prescribing of opioids. Additionally, a program spearheaded by Sen. Joe Scarnati (R-Cameron) to provide medicated-assisted treatment to prisoners with substance abuse issues upon their reentry went into effect earlier this session.

Furthermore, the General Assembly and Gov. Wolf have joined forces to convene a special session to address the heroin and opioid crisis in Pennsylvania. Special sessions are called outside of regular session so that the legislature can focus on one particular issue.

All–in-all, Pennsylvania has taken some deliberate, and potentially effective, steps to combat opioid abuse, though there is clearly more work to be done. With only a handful days scheduled for the Fall, it’s hard to predict how much will be accomplished before the 2015-2016 session closes out on November 30. However, as drug addiction continues to plague the Commonwealth, and drug-related deaths continue to rise, it’s unlikely that this issue will be resolved in short order, but it’s very likely to spill over into the new session that will begin in January of 2017.