Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and the Caucus on International Narcotics Control, today made the following comment on the White House’s new opioid abuse prevention plan.
“The opioid problem has many contributing factors, and fighting it requires measures on multiple fronts. There’s a lot of good news in what the White House is putting forward today. I’ve been among many senators who urged the Administration to re-instate the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day for unused medicines. I’m glad to see that program back in place. It’s been very popular in Iowa. Getting unused medicines out of the medicine cabinet prevents diversion from teen-agers and others prone to abuse. The Administration is promoting physician education and training and increased access to the overdose drug naloxone for law enforcement and first responders. These are positive steps.
“The Administration has had a change of heart on doctors’ prescribing opioids to increase their patient satisfaction survey scores. This has been a concern in Medicare. When I wrote to the Administration about this problem last year, the Administration didn’t seem to think this was a problem. Now there’s an acknowledgement that a review of this area is appropriate. I hope the Administration will continue to take an open-minded approach to fighting opioid abuse.”
Details of the White House plan are available here.
Grassley’s most recent comment on the National Prescription Drug Take-Back program is available here.
Grassley’s letter (with Sen. Dianne Feinstein) on patient satisfaction surveys is available here.
CMS’ response on patient satisfaction surveys is available here.
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