Ed Markey: “this means that the DEA needs to reduce the quotas of oxycodone and hydrocodone that it approves for manufacture each…”

“this means that the DEA needs to reduce the quotas of oxycodone and hydrocodone that it approves for manufacture each year. The DEA is allowing Big Pharma to manufacture too many of these pain pills. Although the United States is less than 5 percent of the world's population, Americans consume 80 percent of the global supply of opioid painkillers and 99 percent of the world's supply of hydrocodone, the active ingredient in Vicodin. Tragically, we have become the ``United States of oxy.'' With the opioid epidemic reaching epic proportions, our Federal budget should reflect the magnitude and importance of investing in treatment and recovery services. In Massachusetts, approximately 65,000 people are currently dependent on opioids. Some 50,000 need treatment but are not receiving it. Treatment for prescription drug and heroin addiction is absolutely at the top of the list of the things this Congress should deal with, and that is why we need to work together. We need to make sure that the treatment is there for each of these patients, and that includes ensuring that patients receive from a physician the help they may need from Suboxone. Right now, that is denied to many different patients. I have been in Congress for 39 years. I have never actually seen an issue like this that has grown so quickly and affects so many families in our country.…”