House lawmakers battled Thursday over how to end prescription drug overdose, with Democrats pushing for more funding for research and programs while Republicans questioned treatment methods.
“[The] Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant has been cut by 25 percent in the last 10 years,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., during a House hearing Thursday on opioid abuse. “Without federal funding for programs, patients won’t have access to these treatments.”
Other Democrats pressed the need to prevent cuts to research.
“I think it puts us on the wrong path,” said Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y.
National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins has complained to Congress that sequester spending caps will create $19 billion in spending reductions for NIH over the next decade.
Republicans in a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee targeted what they describe as ineffective treatment methods.
“Our current strategy is just not working,” said Rep. Tim Murphy, D-Pa., during the hearing.
Murphy focused on buprenorphine, a drug used to treat addiction. He says that giving the drug to addicts is an ineffective and costly method of treating the problem.
“States like Maryland, Vermont, Massachusetts and others that have made massive investments in buprenorphine maintenance have not seen reductions in overdose deaths,” said Murphy, who chairs the House subcommittee.
Congress has recently pushed new ways to address opioid abuse, such as threatening part of the Food and Drug Administration’s funding and introducing legislation to overhaul how painkillers are approved.
