House Energy and Commerce Committee Considers Schneider Opioid Legislation
Witnesses offered testimony on Opioid PACE Act which aims to curb opioid epidemic through continuing education for prescribers
Today, legislation introduced by Congressman Brad Schneider (IL-10) was considered at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee focused on addressing the opioid epidemic.
H.R. 2063, the Opioid Preventing Abuse through Continuing Education (Opioid PACE) Act, would help ensure doctors have the latest knowledge on preventing, detecting, and treating opioid abuse through continuing education. Specifically, the legislation would require providers who treat patients with prescription opioids for pain management to complete 12 hours of continuing medical education (CME) every three years, tied to the renewal of the provider's Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) license.
"Opioid addiction is affecting communities across the country without distinction of age, geography, income level, or education. Turning the tide on this epidemic will take a multi-faceted effort," said Schneider. "Part of the solution is equipping doctors to prevent, detect, and treat opioid abuse, as well as reducing overprescribing of these addicting drugs. I appreciate the thorough and thoughtful questioning of Chairman Burgess, Ranking Member Green, and my colleagues, as well as the insightful testimony offered by today's witnesses. I look forward to continuing to work with the Committee in the days ahead to incorporate the ideas raised today and improve this legislation to address this critical issue."
Witnesses included officials from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), law enforcement, medical, pharmaceutical, and research fields and more. A full list is available on the House Energy and Commerce Committee website.
In his testimony, Dr. Andrew Kolodny, Director of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing (PROP) and Co-Director of the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative at Brandeis University, expressed strong support for continuing education requirements. Although he would like to see changes made to the bill, he said "I am strongly in favor of mandatory education for DEA registrants who intend to prescribe more than a 3-day supply of opioid analgesics and I commend Representative Schneider and his co-sponsors for introducing this legislation."
Video clips of discussion of H.R. 2063 at today's hearing are available here.