[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 75 (Thursday, May 12, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H2288-H2289]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1030
              2016 CALL TO ACTION: COMBATING OPIOID ABUSE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Hawaii (Ms. Gabbard) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. GABBARD. Mr. Speaker, in the United States, 2.1 million people 
suffer from dependency and addiction to prescription opioid drugs. 
Eighty percent of the world's pain pills are consumed in the United 
States, but we only have 5 percent of the world's population. This is 
an epidemic that reaches every corner of our Nation, transcending 
regional, State, community, and neighborhood lines. More people died 
from drug overdose in 2014 than ever before. Over 60 percent of those 
deaths involved the use of an opioid. Seventy-eight Americans die every 
single day from an opioid overdose. There are more people dying from 
prescription drug overdoses than from car accidents.
  This week, the House is considering 15 bipartisan measures that seek 
to address some of the widespread problems that have caused and 
perpetuated this national crisis; but as we look at treatment options 
and support for those who are dealing with this addiction, it is 
important that we actually focus on the root cause of the problem.
  We have seen for decades major pharmaceutical companies that have 
misled the FDA, doctors, and patients about the safety and risks of 
opioid dependence on commonly prescribed prescription drugs in their 
efforts to sell more drugs. Three top executives from Purdue Pharma 
even pleaded guilty to criminal charges.
  Just last week, the LA Times revealed how Purdue Pharma has made over 
$31 billion off of OxyContin, America's best-selling painkiller, by 
advertising the drug's 12-hour pain relief. Investigations have found 
that for many people the drug actually doesn't last for 12 hours. In 
fact, it wears off hours earlier for most people. This often leads to 
``excruciating symptoms of withdrawal, including an intense craving for 
the drug.''
  Despite multiple complaints from doctors, sales representatives, and 
independent research showing that many patients don't experience this 
12-hour pain relief, the company has continued to market the drug's 12-
hour relief and is even encouraging doctors to prescribe stronger doses 
when patients complain about its shortened effects. According to the 
National Survey on Drug Use and Health, more than 7 million Americans 
have abused OxyContin.
  Many abusers then turn to heroin, which is made from the same poppy 
plant and has the same effect. After people are addicted to opioid 
prescription drugs, they turn to heroin when they can't get their hands 
on those pills. To give you some context, one 60-milligram pill costs, 
on average, around $60. To get the very same amount of heroin, you will 
pay one-tenth of the price.
  The problems created by companies like Purdue are felt deeply by 
families all across the country. It is happening to our police 
officers, to teachers, to nurses, and to others in our communities who 
all share the same stories. They used to take prescription drugs, but 
now they inject heroin. In my home State of Hawaii, the rate of pain 
medicine abuse is more than 10 percent above the national average. 
According to the Hawaii State Department of Health data, opioid-related 
deaths have increased 133 percent from 2000 to 2016.
  Veterans, people who have served our country in uniform, have been 
disproportionately impacted by this epidemic. I have heard from some of 
my friends and fellow veterans of how, during their visits to the VA in 
their seeking treatment, even after telling their doctors ``I don't 
want drugs,'' they received prescriptions for those drugs. Up until 
recently, the VA prescribed opioids almost exclusively to veterans who 
were experiencing chronic pain.
  Prescriptions for opiates spiked by 270 percent over 12 years, 
according to the 2013 analysis by the Center for Investigative 
Reporting. This led to addictions and to a fatal overdose rate

[[Page H2289]]

amongst veterans at a rate of twice the national average. The VA is 
beginning to start to change some of its practices by offering 
alternative modes of treatment, but even so, that change is not 
comprehensive and it is not happening everywhere across the country.
  A national health crisis of this magnitude requires leadership, 
commitment, resolve, and partnership at every level of government, 
within our medical community and within our community itself. I urge my 
colleagues to join me in calling for further action to hold 
pharmaceutical companies accountable that are profiting off of 
America's addiction problems, to hold doctors accountable who are 
irresponsibly overprescribing these addictive drugs, and to focus 
instead on finding real solutions that can truly help people.
  I urge the U.S. Surgeon General to make combating opioid abuse the 
2016 Call to Action, which is a yearly initiative that helps to 
stimulate nationwide action to solve a major public health program in 
the U.S. In the past few years, the national Call to Action has 
addressed exercise and walkable communities, skin cancer prevention, 
breastfeeding, deep vein thrombosis, and underage drinking. With 78 
Americans dying every single day from opioid overdose, this is an issue 
that demands our national attention and action.

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