[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 116 (Wednesday, August 1, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H5529-H5530]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE MEDICINE CABINET EPIDEMIC

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Kentucky (Mr. Rogers) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by thanking my 
colleague and friend from across the Big Sandy that divides Kentucky 
and West Virginia and my good friend across the aisle, Nick Rahall, for 
organizing these Special Orders by the Congressional Caucus on 
Prescription Drug Abuse. Congress, the DEA, the medical community, 
State partners, and particularly the Federal Drug Administration must 
do more to fight the medicine cabinet epidemic.
  The Office of National Drug Control Policy in the White House has 
identified prescription drugs as our Nation's fastest growing drug 
problem, easily eclipsing cocaine and heroin abuse. As has been said, 
the national Centers for

[[Page H5530]]

Disease Control has said that prescription drug abuse is now a national 
epidemic.
  In 2010, 254 million prescriptions for opioids were filled in this 
country. That's enough painkillers to medicate every American adult 
around the clock for a month.
  Our military soldiers are coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan 
hooked on these pain pills. In the last 2 years, over 150 of our 
soldiers have died from overdoses.
  In my home State, Kentucky's losing roughly 82 people a month to 
prescription drug deaths, more than car crashes. Our medicine cabinets 
are more dangerous than our cars.
  But these statistics, of course, are just numbers. So many Americans, 
including members of our caucus who've taken to the House floor today, 
have been touched by this tragedy in some personal way. In some 
counties in my district, half of the children are living in a home 
without their parents in large part because of prescription drug abuse.
  I've met single moms struggling to get through drug court and 
employers who can't string together a clean workforce. We've lost 
mothers. We've lost grandfathers, police officers, children, brothers 
and sisters, husbands and wives.
  This epidemic does not distinguish between socioeconomic lines or 
gender lines or geographic lines. It's indiscriminate in its path of 
destruction, and it has to stop.
  FDA has to be part of saying ``no'' to the abuse of legal drugs. FDA 
is the primary entity for regulating prescription drugs with its hands 
on the spigot. For years, I've pleaded with the FDA to take a harder 
look at how these painkillers are allowed to be prescribed.
  Congressman Frank Wolf of Virginia and I have implored FDA to make 
these painkillers available only for severe pain. Prescription 
painkillers such as OxyContin and Opana were originally intended to 
treat severe pain caused by cancer, but over the years, based in large 
part on marketing practices, many physicians, dentists, other health 
care providers began prescribing opioid painkillers for moderate-to-
severe pain. A toothache or a stubbed toe has become an excuse for an 
Oxy prescription.
  Now, OxyContin's a wonderful drug, intended for terminally ill cancer 
patients, people in severe pain that need a time-released capsule over 
12 hours. It helped the patient and helped the caregiver. But it's also 
a very addictive drug and very difficult to kick once addicted. So this 
is really a dangerous drug when not used in the prescribed way.
  This FDA-approved indication for moderate-to-severe pain can create 
the false assumption that opioids are a safe and effective treatment 
for chronic, noncancer pain. On the contrary, more than 30 leading 
clinicians, researchers, and health officials recently petitioned the 
FDA to strike the term ``moderate'' from the indication for noncancer 
pain, add a maximum daily dose and a maximum duration of 90 days for 
continuous daily use.
  When we're losing 16,000 people a year to these drugs, the FDA must 
take this petition seriously.
  Second, the FDA shortly will make a vital determination about whether 
to approve generic versions of the original formulation of the drug 
OxyContin.
  In 2007, the manufacturer of this drug, Purdue Pharma, was found 
criminally liable for deliberately misbranding their product.
  After paying an unprecedented $630 million penalty, Purdue 
voluntarily removed the original formulation of OxyContin from the 
market--and reissued the drug with a formulation which is much more 
difficult to abuse.
  Since this new, more ``gummy'' drug has come on the market, abuse of 
OxyContin has steadily declined--while the abuse of other painkillers, 
like Opana, is on the rise.
  Purdue's patent on the original OxyContin formulation expires in 
2013, and at least three companies have filed applications with FDA to 
produce generic versions.
  If approved, this stands to be a disaster:
  1. As previously seen, original Oxy was incredibly misused and 
wrought havoc. We could see a new wave of deaths if this drug is 
available in a cheaper, generic form.
  2. This would also be a tremendous setback to companies developing 
abuse-resistant pain medications. If generic OxyContin is available on 
the market for a low price, there is no financial incentive for 
investment in the development of abuse-resistant drugs.
  FDA must realize the wide-reaching implications of this pending 
decision, and I encourage the Agency and Commissioner Hamburg not to 
put this potent drug back on the market when there are so many 
alternatives already available and under development.
  Mr. Speaker, this epidemic is touching people in every corner of our 
great nation--and for that reason, I invite all of my colleagues to 
join us in the fight by becoming a member of the Congressional Caucus 
on Prescription Drug Abuse and working with us in pressing FDA to make 
the right decisions.

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