Ed Markey: “Thank you, Mr. President. I thank Senator Hassan for all of her great leadership as Governor of New Hampshire and now…”

“Thank you, Mr. President. I thank Senator Hassan for all of her great leadership as Governor of New Hampshire and now the Senator from New Hampshire. The epidemic has hit New Hampshire very hard, harder than any other place. Her leadership is absolutely outstanding. I thank her for all of her leadership on this nomination as well. As we look at this issue, we realize that a whole epidemic was being created, but that epidemic was being created because of approvals of ``abuse-deterrent'' opioids since 2010. I put ``abuse-deterrent'' in quotes because it was extremely deceptive because too many people felt ``abuse-deterrent'' meant they could not ultimately become addicted to the medicine. The damage has now been done. The prescription painkiller abuse became rampant across the country. We had become the United States of Oxy, and the opioid issue was well on its way to becoming an opioid epidemic because when those who were addicted to Oxy could no longer afford $60 for a 60-milligram pill, they opted for low-priced heroin, which is why we should not be surprised that of those individuals who began abusing heroin in the 2000s, 75 percent reported that their first opioid was a prescription drug.…”