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Read. Follow. Verify.Senate Hearing on Federal Opioid Crisis Response
Record date · January 1, 2019
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What This Bill Does
The Senate Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education met to review federal efforts to combat the opioid epidemic. Chairman Roy Blunt highlighted that the subcommittee has directed nearly $9 billion toward the crisis over the last four years, noting early signs of progress in treatment and overdose prevention.
This hearing outlines the federal government's ongoing strategy and funding priorities for opioid addiction treatment, surveillance, and pain management research, which directly impacts public health resource allocation across all states.
Who It Affects
Groups the bill's text affects, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Physicians
Physicians are subject to new prescribing guidelines and education campaigns funded by the subcommittee.
Addiction treatment providers
Providers receive federal funding to expand treatment capacity and surveillance efforts.
Patients with chronic pain
Patients are affected by changes in pain management research and stricter opioid prescribing guidelines.
Key Facts
- The subcommittee has invested nearly $9 billion in opioid crisis efforts over the last four years.
- In 2017, over 49,000 lives were lost to the opioid crisis in the U.S.
- For every one overdose death, approximately 273 people misused prescription opioids in the past year.
- The DEA in St. Louis recorded a 1,600 percent increase in fentanyl seizures between 2016 and 2017.
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- Missouri experienced a 40 percent increase in fentanyl-related overdoses between 2016 and 2017.
- Federal funding in Missouri has provided treatment for over 4,000 people and saved 2,000 lives via overdose reversals.
- Prescription opioid volume declined by nearly 30 percent in 2017 compared to the previous year.
- The 12-month opioid mortality rate is reportedly leveling off for the first time since the 1980s.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much money has the federal government spent on the opioid crisis recently?
Are opioid prescriptions decreasing?
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News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceFull breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Shift in Pain Management
The committee is explicitly pivoting from purely reactive treatment funding to proactive research into alternative pain management methods.
Sources
www.govinfo.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance85How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy20Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment15Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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