I would like to thank Senator Toomey for convening this hearing and also thank Senator Casey for attending.

This legislation, which Senator Casey has co-sponsored--which I appreciate--will not only help individuals battling addiction to get treatment.

I want to ask anybody who would like to ask a question or make a comment to approach the mics on either side of the room.

My understanding is, the FDA recently approved an indication for the use of OxyContin to treat severe pain in patients age 11 to 16 who may suffer from cancer or other very serious and painful conditions.

Thank you, Senator Toomey and Senator Casey, for your leadership on this issue.

Thank you. I want to ask a question about the Overutilization Monitoring System, which sounds like it might indeed be helpful in spotting excessively high consumption of opioids.

This has been a remarkable show of bipartisan leadership here in western Pennsylvania.

My legislation, which Senator Casey has cosponsored, will not only help individuals battling addiction get treatment.

Senator Toomey's bill S. 1913, Stopping Medication Abuse and Protecting Seniors Act of 2015, would allow PDPs and MA-PDs to proactively identify individuals at risk for controlled substance abuse, misuse or improper utilization.

S. 1913--Stopping Medication Abuse and Protecting Seniors Act of 2015 is a laudable effort to help reduce the narcotic abuse.

More Pennsylvanians will die this year from overdoses and misuse of heroin and prescription painkillers than from influenza or homicide.

Thank you, Senator Casey. We will now hear from our first witness.

Senator Toomey, your bill on NASPER is certainly going to be helpful in helping us with interstate medication diversion.

A vast majority of heroin addicts actually were initially addicted to prescription opioids.

Senator Casey, anything else?

Ms. Potts, thank you so much for having the courage to share your testimony with us, and for being the inspiration that you are to so many people, and for your leadership.

I've authored the bipartisan Stopping Medication Abuse and Protecting Seniors Act.

I want to thank everybody who came out today, and thank the audience members who made comments or asked questions.

The drug courts do work. We have had one since 2005 in Washington County.

Thank you very much, Senators Toomey and Casey, for inviting me here to speak with you today about the opioid epidemic in southwestern Pennsylvania.

If Congress or HHS chooses to examine lifting the DATA 2000 patient cap, it should first reform DATA 2000 practices for the first time in 15 years.

the legislation Senator Toomey is requesting on a lock-in for medication, and I would like to second that also.

Ending the epidemic of heroin addiction will require changes in the practice of medicine, government regulations, and societal views.

Stopping this epidemic and healing our communities will require a three-prong approach that I am pursuing as chairman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care.

Is it your view, though, that prescription painkiller diversion is still a serious problem despite this?