During a U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing on “The Federal Response to the Opioid Crisis” on Thursday, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) questioned Director Debra Houry, M.D., MPH of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. of the Food and Drug Administration, and Director Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D. of the National Institutes of Health about ways the federal government can help stem the opioid epidemic. Murphy received feedback on reasons why the opioid epidemic continues to worsen, and about methods to keep people off of a pathway to addiction.
“As you’ve all noted, the [opioid] epidemic continues to get worse. Drugs are not the only way to manage pain and yet insurance companies seem to drive payment towards prescriptions rather than to other methods that, maybe in the short-term, are more expensive, but in the long-term, may keep you off of these dangerous drugs,” said Murphy. “What does the data tell us about how we’re doing on the over-prescription of medications, and why is this heading in the wrong direction if we’re finally getting a handle on pain meds? What are the additional avenues we need to do to help give doctors and potentially insurance companies some different ways to manage pain other than the drug?”
According to Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner Dr. James Gill, there have been 539 accidental drug overdose deaths in Connecticut over the first half of the year. The figures include 322 deaths involving fentanyl. If this rate continues, Connecticut will see a projected 1078 overdose deaths in 2017, up from the 917 deaths last year and nearly triple the 357 deaths five years ago.
Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz, the first-ever U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, was also at the HELP hearing. The position was created under reforms championed by Murphy and U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) as part of their Mental Health Reform Act.