The Senate last night voted 92-2 to approve the conference report to the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (S. 524), legislation designed to help stem the epidemic of opioid abuse through education, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. The bill incorporates several key AHA-endorsed measures, including the creation of a multi-agency task force with a hospital representative that will develop best practices for prescribing and pain management; more stringent pre-market review of new opioids by the Food and Drug Administration; increased access to opioid overdose reversal drugs and medication-assisted treatment; and expanded research and treatment for vulnerable populations. The House passed the conference report last week and President Obama is expected to sign it into law. AHA members today received a Special Bulletin with more on the legislation, as well as recent actions by the administration and AHA to combat the opioid abuse epidemic. 

Related News Articles

Headline
A Health-ISAC (Information Sharing and Analysis Center) bulletin released Oct. 1 warns of a recently released LockBit 5.0 ransomware variant that poses a…
Headline
AHA Trustee Services will host a webinar Nov. 5 from 3-4:30 p.m. ET on the role of board leaders in creating productive and engaging board meetings and…
Headline
The federal government shutdown will continue as the Senate Oct. 3 failed to adopt a government funding deal. The latest attempt to pass the House-passed…
Perspective
Public
“Trust but verify” is a phrase often associated with President Reagan and the need to ensure that treaties enacted with the Soviet Union were being upheld.…
Headline
A JAMA study published yesterday analyzed the health characteristics of individuals projected to lose Medicaid coverage due to work requirements included in…
Headline
The Department of Health and Human Services announced Sept. 30 that it is doubling its funding for childhood cancer research from $50 million to $100 million…