Opioid Task Force Bill Passes 412-4 with Nolan Amendment to Include Active Duty Soldiers and Military Veterans

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan hailed passage of his amendment to H.R. 4641 today, successfully adding a representative charged with ensuring that the interests and concerns of active duty soldiers and military Veterans are taken into account on a newly created inter-agency pain management task force.

In creating this task force, the bill will bring together around the same table numerous agencies, professions, specialties, experts, and perspectives to review, modify, and update best practices for pain management and prescribing pain medication -- a key issue in the face of the current opioid epidemic in the United States. Unfortunately, the original bill failed to include an expert on active duty military, armed forces personnel, and veteran health prescription opioid addiction until passage of the Nolan amendment.

"Soldiers and military Veterans use opioid painkillers far more frequently than civilians because of the horrific injuries they all too often suffer in combat and training," Nolan said. "Our heroes deserve representation on this task force to help address these serious and growing problems."

Half of all troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer chronic pain. As a result, half a million military Veterans are now prescribed opioid medications -- an increase of nearly 80 percent in little more than a decade. The American Public Health Association reports that the overdose rate among VA patients is twice the national average.

Source