US Senate overwhelmingly approves opioid legislation News
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US Senate overwhelmingly approves opioid legislation

The US Senate [website] approved the Support for Patients and Communities Act [text] on Monday to to address opioid and substance use disorders in an effort to fight the national opioid epidemic.

The bill passed 99-1 [vote summary] with Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) [profile] giving the only vote against the legislation.

The bill would alter Medicaid and Medicare programs as part of implementing 70 provisions to address opioid use.

Other provisions address establishing measures to curtail shipments of synthetic opioids like fentanyl, funding research into non-addictive painkillers, and requirements for the Food and Drug Administration to allot smaller amounts of prescription opioid pills.

The nation is attempting to address the opioid epidemic that has escalated in recent years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [official website] estimated [data] that 72,000 Americans in 2017 died from overdose. Last week the Arizona Attorney General filed [JURIST report] an action against Purdue Pharma for deceptive and misleading marketing practices to sell opioids. The Department of Justice also announced [JURIST report] an amendment the Federal Register to provide the Drug Enforcement Administration with more control in the addressing the crisis.

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