WASHINGTON, DC - Earlier this month, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) participated in a panel discussion on the opioid crisis as part of the Milken Institute’s Global Conference.
“This cuts across all socio-economic lines, it doesn’t check your voter registration card, your age, anything. It is across the spectrum," stressed Chairman Walden, who also noted in his introductory remarks that during the panel alone, five Americans will die from an opioid overdose. [VIDEO ]
“Addiction is a disease and a disorder that needs treatment," said Chairman Walden.
Chairman Walden highlighted the committee’s two-track approach to combating the opioid crisis - advancing legislation to help stem the tide and investigating some of the root causes of the epidemic.
Chairman Walden answers a question from the moderator
On the legislative side, Chairman Walden recapped the policy areas that have been considered by the committee thus far, flagging the areas of: enforcement, prevention and education, and treatment.
“We’re trying to break down these barriers, these silos, that are actually leading to death and destruction - as opposed to recovery," said Chairman Walden.
On the investigative side, Chairman Walden spoke about the committee’s bipartisan investigation into alleged pill dumping in West Virginia. The investigation was the subject of a hearing before #SubOversight earlier this month featuring the leadership of five drug distributors.
Sharing with the panel some of the jaw-dropping results of the committee’s bipartisan investigation, Chairman Walden stated, “Millions of hydrocodone pills dropped into tiny, little towns. Kermit, West Virginia has a population of 406 people - In a two-year period, 9 million pills. … Williamson, West Virginia, 2,900 people - 20.8 million pills over 10 years. Mount Gay-Shamrock, 1,779 people - 16.5 million pills over that same 10-year period. Between 2007 and 2012, 780 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills went into West Virginia." [VIDEO ]
The panel covered a number of issues within the opioid crisis. Ret. Admiral James Winnefeld, Jr., U.S. Navy, and Co-Chair of S.A.F.E. Project US shared the story of his son, Jonathan, and stressed how important it is that we eliminate the stigma associated with addiction. Ret. Admiral Winnefeld’s wife and fellow Co-Chair of S.A.F.E. Project US, Mary, recently participated in a roundtable discussion hosted by Energy and Commerce, where she spoke to the importance of support systems and the transition from treatment.
Dr. Nora Volkow, Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health, addressed the lack of sufficient data on key elements of the crisis. In particular, she remarked about the cataloging of overdose deaths and whether other behavior, like suicide, is taken into account.
