The opioid epidemic will require more than a “moonshot” to end, said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., during a hearing on Senate opioid legislation.
“In January, [author] Sam Quinones testified before our Committee that we need a ‘moonshot’ to solve this crisis,” Alexander said during a hearing Wednesday of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. “I think it may require the effort and resources of a moonshot but I also think it will be different and harder because this is not something that can be undertaken by a single agency in Washington, D.C. — it will require all-hands on deck work and solutions from states, communities, and local partners.”
The opioid epidemic killed more than 64,000 Americans in 2016, and Alexander’s committee is working on a massive opioid package aimed at tackling different facets of the epidemic.
The committee will take up the legislation on April 24 and aims to pass it and send it to the Senate floor.
At the same time, the House Energy & Commerce Committee is working on a series of more than 40 bills combating the epidemic.
The Senate bill aims to entice drugmakers to develop more nonaddictive painkillers, a major priority for Alexander.
“I see a nonaddictive painkiller as the ‘holy grail’ of the opioid crisis,” Alexander said.
Other facets include expanding grants to expand access to treatment options and require the Food and Drug Administration to require drugmakers to package certain opioids for certain durations in order to avoid overprescribing.
