A key Senate committee is set to vote Tuesday to advance four healthcare-related bills, including a wide-ranging package aimed at tackling the opioid crisis.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will vote on the Opioid Crisis Response Act, a compilation of 40 proposals from lawmakers in both parties. The bill includes provisions to reduce illegal drug trafficking, limit the number of pain relievers doctors can prescribe, and channel research toward finding nonaddictive pain medication.
The bill is one of several efforts from Congress, which, with the Trump administration, has been working to find solutions to reverse overdose-related deaths and addiction in the U.S. that are tied to opioids such as heroin and prescription painkillers. Opioid overdose deaths surpassed 42,000 in 2016.
The HELP Committee held seven hearings to deliberate on what the bill should include. The House also has been drafting legislation and House Republican leaders hope to pass a bill by Memorial Day.
“I think the committee will approve it because we have 40 proposals from 38 different senators of both parties,” said HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. “There is a strong interest in dealing with this in a bipartisan, urgent, and effective way. I think all of us want to make whatever contribution we can to the nation’s No. 1 public health epidemic.”
Other bills for consideration Tuesday include the Over-the-Counter Drug Safety, Innovation, and Reform Act, which was introduced by Sens. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Bob Casey, D-Pa. The bill would overhaul the way that over-the-counter medicines are regulated and brought to the market.
It would for the first time allow the Food and Drug Administration to collect user fees on over-the-counter drugs, which proponents say would encourage the development of new products and cause new medicines to come to market faster. The way over-the-counter medicines are currently monitored has been in place since 1972, and critics say it is outdated and could cause harm. The legislation authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to take action when safety issues arise.
The bill has the support of FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb and of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“It’s critical that we have that legislation in place … so that we can have a lot more clarity with regard to the labeling and also to make sure that in our healthcare system we have that kind of certainty,” Casey said. “It has just been a problem for years.”
Casey and Isakson are behind another bill set for consideration Tuesday, the Children’s Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act, which would reauthorize a hospital graduate medical education program for pediatricians for five years. The legislation was enacted in 1999 and provides funding to more than 50 children’s hospitals.
The committee also will vote on the Firefighter Cancer Registry Act, which would create a national registry for firefighters who have been diagnosed with cancer. Research shows that firefighters, who are exposed to harmful toxins in their work, have an increased risk for several types of cancer, including testicular, stomach, and brain cancers. The legislation was introduced by Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Robert Menendez, D-N.J.
