[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 113 (Friday, July 6, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E975-E976]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 5197 ALTERNATIVES TO OPIOIDS (ALTO) IN THE EMERGENCY 
                             DEPARTMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, July 6, 2018

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5197, 
the Alternatives to Opioids in the Emergency Department Act, or the 
ALTO Act.
  Mr. Speaker, our nation faces an opioid crisis.
  H.R. 5197, the ALTO Act, directs the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services to conduct a demonstration program to test alternative pain 
management protocols to limit the use of opioids in hospitals and 
emergency departments.
  Opioids contributed to the deaths of more than 42,000 people in 2016, 
more than any year on official record.
  Forty percent of all opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription 
opioid.
  The economic burden of prescription opioid misuse in the United 
States is estimated to be $78.5 billion dollars per year.
  This figure includes costs stemming from health care, including 
addiction treatment, lost productivity, and criminal justice 
involvement.
  Over 200 million opioid prescriptions are written in the United 
States each year, and 2 million Americans have the symptoms of 
substance use disorder.
  Approximately 21 to 29 percent of patients prescribed opioids for 
chronic pain misuse them.
  In Texas, 4 percent of the population reports using pain relievers 
for non-medical purposes.
   Harris County, which contains my home district, has a pain 
medication misuse rate of 3.91 percent.
  The time for action is now.
  H.R. 5197, the ALTO Act, directs Health and Human Services to carry 
out a 3-year demonstration program which awards grants to hospitals and 
emergency departments to develop, implement, enhance, or study 
alternative pain management protocols and treatments that promote the 
appropriate limited use of opioids.
  Emergency departments in several States, including in New Jersey and 
Colorado, have developed innovative programs to more widely utilize 
non-opioid pain treatments to reduce the use of opioids.
  We must learn from these attempts and initiate a national program to 
limit the overuse of opioids in emergency settings.
  However, it is important to realize that some groups, such as African 
Americans, are under-prescribed pain management medications.

[[Page E976]]

   We must balance these new programs that work to reduce over-
prescription with our continued efforts to ensure that medically 
necessary treatment be provided to people in need.
  H.R. 5197, the ALTO Act, is especially important for my district and 
the greater Houston area.
  Houston is home to many world-renowned trauma centers including Ben 
Taub and Memorial Hermann.
  These centers have extensive emergency medical services and they, 
along with hospitals around the state and the nation, will benefit 
greatly from the support this bill provides.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time for Congress to intervene before opioids 
claim the lives of more Americans.
  The Alternatives to Opioids in the Emergency Department Act, or the 
ALTO Act is a necessary step towards stopping this opioid crisis.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 5197, the ALTO 
Act, to prevent opioid addiction at the source and ensure that this 
crisis is stopped.

                          ____________________