White House Response to the Opiate Epidemic

Experts urged Trump to use powers under the Stafford Act to declare a national emergency. States could then gain access to the Federal Disaster Relief Fund – which is used to rebuild areas affected by fires or hurricanes. As a result, the DEA has recommended that officers not field test drugs if fentanyl is suspected, but instead collect and send samples to a laboratory for analysis. Fentanyl, a newer synthetic opioid painkiller, is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin, with only 2 mg becoming a lethal dose. Huntington, West Virginia has 10 times more overdose deaths than the national average.

$50 million is directed to HHS to address health issues relating to a lead-tainted drinking water system in Michigan. The Department of Labor’s appeal of a federal injunction against the rule will almost certainly be dropped once Trump takes charge of the Justice Department. Another regulation to watch is the fiduciary rule, which requires broker dealers to consider only the client’s best interest when providing retirement advice. Trump may face difficulty squelching the rule before it takes effect in April, but his Labor Department can broaden exemptions and thereby weaken its effect substantially.

White Response to Opiate Epidemic

He also helped force out a DEA official who was taking on distributors of opiate pills. Drug overdoses now kill more people than traffic crashes or gun-related deaths. Also, there are fears this epidemic could set off a wave of new HIV/AIDs infections.

Executive orders will be the easiest to reverse or cancel; that simply takes executive action. On the list could be an order that required prospective federal contractors to disclose previous labor law violations when bidding on large contracts. Republicans are framing this measure as an Obamacare transition solution, but nothing will actually happens to the ACA yet. Instruct relevant committees to write legislation that could undo provisions of the law. Those effort starts this week as the Senate is expected to start working on passing a budget that contains instructions for gutting Obamacare this week, with the House following up as soon as next week. Both the full House and new members of the Senate were sworn in today initiating the 115th Congress.

  • One senior from Clinton, Maryland, wrote to tell me that one of her prescriptions more than doubled in price, and she left the pharmacy empty-handed because she couldn’t afford it.
  • Many are now looking a Congress to secure more money to deal with this crisis.
  • Huntington Fire Department is under strain because of the opioid epidemic.
  • With the Republican party in charge of both chambers and President-elect Donald Trump in the White House, an ambitious agenda is in the works, which includes repealing Obamacare and rolling back regulations.

North America’s dominant trafficking group is Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, which has been linked to 80 percent of the fentanyl seized in New York. As early efforts to decrease opioid prescribing began to take effect, making prescription opioids harder to obtain, the focus turned to heroin, a cheap, widely available, and potent illegal opioid. In 2010, there was a rapid eco sober house rating increase in deaths from heroin abuse. She is a strong supporter of school choice and supports the president-elect’s $20 billion school choice plan emphasizing vouchers. (R-NC), the chairs of the congressional education committees, both plan to turn their attention to overhauling the Higher Education Act, which was last comprehensively reauthorized in 2008.

In Oct 2017, President Trump called the opiate epidemic a ‘national shame’ and declared it a public health emergency. The increase in fentanyl deaths has been linked to illicitly manufactured fentanyl used to replace or adulterate other drugs of abuse. The opiate epidemic had its origins in the mid-1990s when there were assertions that doctors were inadequately addressing pain and opiates – which were previously reserved for end of life care and acute pain. Mike Pence’s former general counsel has joined the landing team at the Education Department. He served as general counsel for Pence during his time as Indiana governor, according to a 2013 press releasefrom the Republican National Lawyers Association that announced him as a member of its board of governors.

White House Response to the Opiate Epidemic

Trump announced a vague plan to confront the opioid crisis in March 2018. In 2013 as an increase in deaths related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. The sharpest rise in drug-related deaths occurred in 2016 with over 20,000 deaths from fentanyl and related drugs. These include opiate pills being sold on the street and heroin. These drugs are often laced with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that’s behind the sharp rise in overdoses.

  • They insist that only those who are diverting and misusing their drugs to get high are responsible for the epidemic and not those that are legitimately prescribed the drugs.
  • WASHINGTON, DC – House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer spoke on the House Floor in support of H.R.
  • Fentanyl, a newer synthetic opioid painkiller, is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin, with only 2 mg becoming a lethal dose.
  • In 2010, there was a rapid increase in deaths from heroin abuse.

Broken down by political party, 77 percent of Democrats, as well as 65 percent of independents and Republicans said they support more funding to address opioid abuse. The ONDCP plays a critical role in coordinating the federal government’s response to the fentanyl, heroin, and opioid epidemic. The House will vote shortly after on the budget resolution and that vote could happen by the time Trump is inaugurated. It is worth noting that the budget resolution is not law, but binding and instructing on the House and Senate Committees. 3, we can lower the cost of prescription drugs so that Americans can live healthy lives and pursue the American dream.

Foxx to be Chair of House Education and Workforce Cmte, Trump’s Ed Landing Team

Wheeler also has extensive experience representing schools on legal issues, including civil rights-related cases, according to the web site for his law firm in Indianapolis, Frost Brown Todd, LLC. With approval of the full Republican conference, the House Republican Steering Committee has selected Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) as the chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in the 115th Congress. She grew up in Appalachia without power https://sober-house.net/ and running water and began working as a weaver at age 12 to help support her family. These experiences convinced her that it’s an individual’s hard work, and not federal programs, that lead to success. It’s an issue that crosses partisan lines, with both Democrats and Republicans angling to do something about it. Instead, he has merely declared a public health emergency, which is seen by many as a short-term measure that doesn’t allocate enough money.

trump opioid bill

The letter states that the ONDCP and DEA have both been without permanent, Senate-confirmed leadership since Trump took office. Distributors are required under the Controlled Substances Act to report and stop what the DEA calls „suspicious orders“ — such as unusually large or frequent shipments of opioids. According to the DEA, one kg of fentanyl can be bought in China for $3,000 to $5,000, and then smuggled into the United States by mail or Mexican drug cartels to generate over $1.5 million in revenue. It is pure white, odorless and flavorless, with a potency strong enough that police and first responders helping overdose victims have themselves overdosed by simply touching or inhaling a small amount. In 2016, over 64,000 Americans died from overdoses, 21 percent more than the almost 53,000 in 2015.

Between the mid-1990s to 2010, there was a 5-10-fold increase in opiate prescribing. The measure is expected to pass, though it is unclear by how wide a margin. The White House hasn’t indicated where President Barack Obama will come down on the final bill, though it leaves out many of the most controversial provisions that drew Democratic opposition and a veto threat from the administration. The House will debate and vote on the compromise National Defense Authorization Act today, likely before noon. As the 73-year-old GOP lawmaker and former community college president, Foxx has been a staunch critic of the Obama Administation’s Department of Education efforts.

Hoyer Floor Remarks on the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act

“President Trump promised in 2016 before his election that he would work to negotiate lower drug prices, something this bill would give his Administration the authority to do. I hope he will join in encouraging the Senate to take up H.R. 3 without delay and pass it – and I urge the President to reverse his opposition to this bill and sign it. The Daily Leader A legislative summary of the of the day’s schedule and legislation. The Department of Labor will be able to give funding to states for workers affected by the epidemic if funds are available.

  • Florida clinics also are no longer allowed to dispense painkillers directly from their clinics, which has helped reduce the distribution of prescription opiates.
  • The conference agreement would establish the Manufacturing Engineering Education program (Sec.215), to award grants to industry, non-profits, universities or consortiums of such groups, to enhance or establish new programs in manufacturing engineering education.
  • Prosecutors decided to investigate Purdue Pharma after bringing cases against drug addicts as well as local doctors accused of illegally prescribing the drug.
  • It is worth noting that the budget resolution is not law, but binding and instructing on the House and Senate Committees.

“This legislation, named in memory of our dear friend Elijah Cummings, who fought so hard to lower the cost of prescription drugs, will give Medicare the power to negotiate directly with drug companies, which will help bring drug prices down. It will make those lower drug prices available to Americans with private insurance as well, and it will create a new out-of-pocket limit of $2,000 for prescription drug costs for those on Medicare Part-D. Additional funding to address the opioid epidemic has widespread bipartisan support among the electorate. Sixty-nine percent of all registered voters said they support increasing funding to help solve opioid abuse, while 17 percent said they oppose additional money.

Over a two year period, close to $800 million worth of fentanyl pills were illegally sold online to the U.S. by Chinese distributors. Much of that is because opiate addiction is highest amongst people of working age. Numbers increase as addicts switch to opiates from unreliable sources.

They insist that only those who are diverting and misusing their drugs to get high are responsible for the epidemic and not those that are legitimately prescribed the drugs. Prosecutors decided to investigate Purdue Pharma after bringing cases against drug addicts as well as local doctors accused of illegally prescribing the drug. Of the six featured patients in this video, two are now deceased for reasons relating to their opioid addiction.

Experts are deeply skeptical that any effort to beef up border security, including Trump’s wall, would do much, if anything, to stop the flow of drugs into the US. Many are now looking a Congress to secure more money to deal with this crisis. What the bill really did was strip the agency of its ability to immediately freeze suspicious shipments of prescription narcotics to keep drugs off U.S. streets.

Of note, this funding comes from the Labor-H appropriations bill. There is additional funding to allow continued operations and data collection for continuation of data for weather warnings, including forecasts of severe weather events from NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System. The House is expected to vote on the measure on Thursday and the Senate is expected to follow suit on Friday. As the Trump Administration takes office later this month, lawmakers are also gearing up for new fights. Efforts to undo many of the Obama Administration’s education policies, such as its teacher preparation regulations or rules aimed at cracking down on for-profit colleges, will likely prove contentious. Lawmakers will also likely clash over efforts to repeal the Obama Administration’s regulations under the Every Student Succeeds Act or scale back the power of the Office for Civil Rights.

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