On the recordMarch 2, 2016
I would like to start my remarks on the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act today by complimenting all of the Members--Senator Whitehouse, Senator Grassley, Senator Portman, Senator Ayotte, Senator Shaheen, and all the Members who have been working so hard on this legislation to produce something which is very much needed by our country. I will start my remarks by telling a little story of a constituent who wants to remain anonymous. This is her story: On July 20, 2009, I was the passenger in a vehicle with my close friend at the time behind the wheel. The light turned green and as expected he hit the gas. While he was hitting the gas, the oncoming car never hit their brakes to stop at the red light they were approaching. I was painfully pinned in the passenger's seat. All I could hear was my friend asking me if I was OK. Upon arriving in the ER I was quickly poked, prodded, and injected with high- level painkillers. This is where it all began. Walking out of the hospital, I wasn't only walking out with crutches, but a prescription that changed the next 5 years of my life. I was prescribed OxyContin to help manage the pain I was experiencing. With continuing follow-up appointments and check-ins, also came more prescriptions for ``pain management prescriptions.'' Two months after getting into a car accident, I was a heroin addict. How quickly all things I knew changed.…
