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HELP Committee introduces the Opioid Crisis Response Act. The legislation, introduced Tuesday by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, is comprised of 40 proposals from both sides of the aisle. The bill’s latest version is similar to a draft that was made public this month but adds a reauthorization for grants to states and tribes for prevention, response and treatment of the opioid crisis. The grants previously appeared in the 21st Century Cures Act and would be extended for three more years. The Opioid Crisis Response Act gives a multitude of directives to health agencies, including the FDA, National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Our goal is to move urgently, effectively, and in a bipartisan way,” said HELP Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. The HELP Committee has held seven hearings on the issue and is expected to meet on it again April 24.

House Energy and Commerce Committee prepares to mark up opioid legislation. The House is moving forward with its own opioid package. The Energy and Commerce Committee’s health subcommittee will mark up legislation April 25. The committee has examined bills to improve patient safety and bolster enforcement tools, advance prevention and public health solutions, and address coverage and payment issues within Medicare and Medicaid.

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Azar heads back to hospital. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar returned to the hospital Wednesday for complications with a digestive infection. His doctor recommended that Azar return to St. Vincent hospital in Indianapolis, where he was admitted Sunday night, for additional treatment and observation, an HHS representative said. Azar has been in regular contact with leadership at HHS and the White House as well as Congress and he “remains fully engaged with the responsibilities of his job,” the spokesman said.

Crackdown on e-cigarette sales to minors coming, FDA chief says. The Food and Drug Administration will step up its crackdown on e-cigarette sales to teens, the head of the agency said Tuesday. Lawmakers on a House Appropriations subcommittee grilled FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb about excessive use of e-cigarettes among youths. The FDA has the authority to go after e-cigarette makers and retailers if they violate a ban on sales to people under 18, but lawmakers questioned if the agency was doing enough. “I am concerned that FDA’s silence on e-cigarettes could open the door to the next public health emergency,” said Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y. Gottlieb said the FDA will crack down on youths’ use of e-cigarettes in the coming weeks. “We are going to take some vigorous enforcement steps to try to perceive what we see is inappropriate use by youth,” Gottlieb said, refusing to elaborate on when the action will happen. The agency has several avenues for targeting retailers, including a warning letter, massive fines, or banning the retailer from selling any tobacco or e-cigarettes.

DEA moves to stop pill dumping after West Virginia lawsuit. The Drug Enforcement Administration will take major steps to halt the oversupply of opioids that has contributed to the nationwide epidemic. A regulation announced Tuesday is a direct result of a lawsuit from West Virginia filed last month. The lawsuit wants changes to a DEA rule to end pill dumping in the state, as opioids flooded small communities and helped spark the epidemic. The rule will change the way the DEA calculates the yearly quota it sets on the amount of opioids that drugmakers can sell in a given year. The quota was determined by asking the drug industry how many pills drugmakers could sell in a given year. Under the proposed rule, the quota now will take into account how many pills could be diverted to the black market.

Bernie Sanders wants to fine opioid manufacturers for role in overdose crisis. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has introduced a bill that would require drug companies to pay the U.S. government at least $7.8 billion apiece for their role in the opioid crisis. Sanders’ bill, the Opioid Crisis Accountability Act, points to government estimates that show the opioid crisis costs the U.S. more than $78 billion a year. The surge in overdose deaths related to opioids has been attributed largely to the overprescribing of painkillers such as OxyContin. The bill also would ban illegal marketing and distribution of opioids and penalize companies that ignore the law with 25 percent of the profits from their opioid products. Drug executives found responsible for the epidemic could spend at least a decade in jail.

Democrats want $100 billion to fight opioid epidemic. Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill to provide $100 billion in new funding over 10 years to fight the opioid crisis. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., introduced the Comprehensive Addiction Resources Emergency Act on Wednesday that would drastically increase funding for combating abuse. The funding would go mainly to states to develop their own approaches. “We can’t defeat the opioid crisis with empty words and half measures,” Warren said. “Our bill will funnel millions of dollars directly to the hardest-hit communities and give them the tools to fight back.” The bill would give $4 billion per year to states, territories and tribal governments, including $2 billion to states with the most opioid overdoses, according to a statement on the legislation. It provides another $2.7 billion per year to counties and cities hit hardest by the epidemic. The bill also gives $500 million per year to expand access to the overdose antidote naloxone and nearly $2 billion a year to public health surveillance and medical research.

Drug prices group announces first congressional endorsement. The advocacy group Patients for Affordable Drugs NOW endorsed Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., its first endorsement of the 2018 election season. “David McKinley has consistently been on the right side of legislation to lower drug prices, including introducing a key bill aimed at speeding cheaper generics to market,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and founder of the group. “The truth is, patients and consumers need David McKinley because he’s working to bring cheaper drugs to the market that will help West Virginia families and all Americans save money.” Last year, McKinley co-introduced the FAST Generics Act that aimed at preventing brand name drug companies from blocking generic competition. The endorsement reflects a strategy by the advocacy group to counter “the pharmaceutical political machine. Drug corporations spent $20 million on lobbying and donated $246 million to politicians in the last election cycle alone,” the group said.

RUNDOWN

The Hill Johnny Isakson opens up about family’s tragic loss

Associated Press Virginia House passes Medicaid expansion, sends to Senate

NPR Anguished families shoulder the biggest burdens of opioid addiction

Politico Patrick Kennedy profits from opioid-addiction firms

Reuters Global leaders seek to reignite fight against malaria

Washington Post New CDC chi f stepped down from four groups to comply with ethics rules

CNN New viruses, superbugs found in study of New York house mice