Katherine Clark: “I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding. Mr. Speaker, over the last decade, we have seen a staggering increase of…”

“I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding. Mr. Speaker, over the last decade, we have seen a staggering increase of opioid overdose deaths. In 2015, this epidemic claimed 125 lives in my district alone. There are a lot of different causes of this crisis, but the number of prescription opioids in circulation is a critical factor. Over the last 15 years, the amount of prescription painkillers has quadrupled and generic Vicodin is now the most prescribed drug to Medicare beneficiaries. Now, we know that often patients don't use all the opioids they are prescribed. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, over 70 percent of adults who misuse prescription drugs get them from friends or relatives. Millions of half-filled bottles of unused and unwanted prescription drugs line our families' medicine cabinets, and too often that is where opioid addiction begins. One promising way to reduce the amount of unused and unwanted painkillers that are fueling this public health crisis is by allowing patients and doctors to only partially fill opioid prescriptions. By allowing pharmacists to partially fill a prescription for opioids at the request of a patient or doctor, we can reduce the number of unused pills and help stop pill diversion and misuse. Currently, the DEA allows partial filling of prescriptions for many drugs, but the regulations are narrower and less clear for opioid drugs.…”