Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5197, the Alternatives to Opioids in the Emergency Department Act, or the ALTO Act. Mr. Speaker, our nation faces an opioid crisis. H.R. 5197, the ALTO Act, directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a demonstration program to test alternative pain management protocols to limit the use of opioids in hospitals and emergency departments. Opioids contributed to the deaths of more than 42,000 people in 2016, more than any year on official record. Forty percent of all opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription opioid. The economic burden of prescription opioid misuse in the United States is estimated to be $78.5 billion dollars per year. This figure includes costs stemming from health care, including addiction treatment, lost productivity, and criminal justice involvement. Over 200 million opioid prescriptions are written in the United States each year, and 2 million Americans have the symptoms of substance use disorder. Approximately 21 to 29 percent of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them. In Texas, 4 percent of the population reports using pain relievers for non-medical purposes. Harris County, which contains my home district, has a pain medication misuse rate of 3.91 percent. The time for action is now. H.R.…”