House Passes Bipartisan Legislation to Fight The Opioid Crisis

Today, the House of Representatives passed the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act completing a week of action funding the fight against the opioid crisis and updating laws to empower those working to stop the epidemic. The legislation is a major bipartisan agreement borne out of the House's work in June and the Senate's work in September to pass a vital response to the crisis.

Congressman John Moolenaar has met with families affected by the epidemic and held roundtables with community leaders in health care, law enforcement and local government to hear directly from them. Most recently, he visited the Lion's Den in Roscommon and learned more about the work done there to help people recover from substance abuse and addiction.

On Wednesday, Congressman Moolenaar voted for legislation funding the Department of Health and Human Services, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control with the resources they need to help lead federal efforts against opioid abuse. That legislation was signed into law by President Trump this afternoon.

Congressman Moolenaar voted for the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act today and made the following statement:

"I am working with families and community leaders to stop the opioid crisis. Today's legislation is a strong follow-up to my work on the Appropriations Committee to fund research of pain relief alternatives and provide grants to Michigan communities. Today's urgently needed reforms in the SUPPORT Act will empower people on the frontlines of the epidemic with more resources to prevent opioid abuse, treat those in need of help, stop dangerous drugs like fentanyl, and save lives."

More on the Legislation
A 26-page summary of the legislation is available here. Major changes in the legislation include:

New Research: The legislation provides the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with new, flexible authorities to conduct innovative research and spur urgently needed research on new non-addictive pain medications.

Jessie's Law: The legislation will ensure medical professionals have access to a consenting patient's complete health history when making treatment decisions by requiring the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop and disseminate best practices regarding the prominent display of substance use disorder (SUD) history in patient records of patients who have previously provided this information to a health care provider.

Safe Disposal of Unused Medications: The legislation will help reduce the number of unused controlled substances at risk of diversion or misuse by allowing hospice employees to safely dispose of these medications on site after the death of a patient.

Stopping Fentanyl: The legislation authorizes grants to state and local agencies to improve coordination between public health laboratories and laboratories operated by law enforcement to improve detection of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.

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