WASHINGTON, DC - House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Health Subcommittee Chairman Joseph Pitts (R-PA) issued the following statement on the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) release of new opioid prescribing guidelines:
“Effectively combatting the opioid epidemic has been an all hands on deck effort. Over the last year we’ve held over a half dozen hearings, heard from various experts, and advanced important legislation. We look to build upon our efforts in the coming weeks as our members have introduced a number of meaningful solutions. There is no doubt that evidence-based guidelines should be developed so providers remain ever vigilant about the dangers of addiction when treating patients with pain. Today the CDC issued a number of recommendations for the treatment of chronic pain in primary care settings. While we are still reviewing the details, we look forward to working with CDC, FDA, NIH, and other stakeholders to strengthen the evidence-base and continuously improve best practices for pain management. We applaud committee members Susan Brooks (R-IN) and Joseph Kennedy (D-MA) for authoring H.R. 4641 to establish an inter-agency task force on best practices, and we hope to advance it along with other thoughtful solutions soon."
