Tim Murphy

This is critically important. Too many people have died, even during the course of this hearing today.

One of those is 42 CFR Part 2, which governs confidentiality protections for all substance use treatment records.

The size of this problem and the need for a new paradigm of treatment can't be understated.

But we have had more people die in the last year from drug overdose deaths than the combination of every airplane crash in North America from 1975 to the present.

Look, I want to thank you. As I said last time, too, you know, if this was about a single airplane crash, this room would be filled with media.

Are we fighting heroin or not? I'm really frustrated with this, so I really--give me some more guidance on plan one.

I don't want to see another statistic of 44,000 more people die of overdose.

I look forward to hearing from Dr. Frank and others about how the Affordable Care Act is transforming the landscape for behavioral health services.

This will mean that millions of people will have access to the tools they need to break their addictions.

I also want to use today's hearing as an opportunity to hear from these Federal agencies about the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Today we convene the third in a series of hearings examining the growing problem of prescription drugs and heroin addiction that is ravaging our country.

Now, I don't believe in better living through dependency.

If we do not reverse the current trend, where is this going to end?

You've heard my thoughts about the Government-sponsored promotion of what I've characterized as addiction maintenance.

The numbers indicate we are failing as a Nation, and we darn well better come to terms with that.

We must do better, and we have much work to do.

We need to tear down Federal policy and funding barriers that keep us from treating both simultaneously.

This is our Nation's single biggest public health concern.

Thank you so much for your valuable input.

Every minute we delay, needed treatment costs lives.

The immediate tragedy here isn't that some individuals won't be able to taper off maintenance medications, it is that most won't even be able to access an evidence-based treatment modality.

Each and every year, I have spent Super Bowl Sunday in a soup kitchen, working alongside and serving individuals of the addiction recovery community.

No treatment option is perfect, and I strongly support further research that will help us create more effective treatments.

Just talk therapy in a general concept isn't going to work, it has to be very focused with someone who understands addiction.

I consider opioid maintenance as a bridge to cross over in addiction recovery, not a final destination.