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The House of Representatives began considering a series of bills this week aimed at combatting the opioid epidemic that is ravaging America. The House passed 39 bills touching on treatment, prevention and enforcement. The House will continue work on additional opioid bills next week.

“During every meeting we hold in the district, the opioid crisis is the number one concern. We brought our constituents’ feedback with us to Washington, and introduced legislation to address these issues. Our bills will expand access to treatment for overdose survivors while in the emergency room and develop alternatives to opioids for pain management,” said McKinley.

“Many of these bills reflect feedback we’ve received from constituents during our meetings in the district. The Indexing Narcotics, Fentanyl, and Opioids Act creates a one-stop shop for localities to access information on opioid grants that are available. Jessie’s Law sets standards for the disclosure of medical history to prevent the prescribing of opioids to recovering addicts,” McKinley said.

“With each of the bills being considered this week and next, the House is taking action on the issues facing our constituents and equipping communities to fight the scourge of this epidemic,” McKinley added.

Click here to watch McKinley speak on the POWER Act on the House floor.

Background
This week, the House of Representatives began voting on comprehensive legislation aimed at combatting the opioid epidemic. On Tuesday, two bills offered by McKinley were passed, and now head to the Senate for consideration.

The two bills offered by McKinley are:

• H.R. 5176, the Preventing Overdoses While in Emergency Rooms (POWER) Act. This bill was authored by Rep. McKinley and is cosponsored by Rep. Michael Doyle (D-PA). The bill will provide resources for hospitals to develop protocols on discharging patients who have presented with an opioid overdose. These protocols would address the provision of naloxone upon discharge, connection with peer-support specialists, and the referral to treatment and other services that best fit the patient’s needs.
• H.R. 5197, the Alternatives to Opioids (ALTO) in the Emergency Department Act. This bill was authored by McKinley and Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ). The bill will establish a demonstration program to test alternative pain management protocols to limit to use of opioids in hospital emergency departments, and reduce the over-prescribing of opioids.