Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, the faces and voices of the opioid and heroin epidemic are all around us. The victims and survivors are everywhere, in Connecticut and across the country.

Just this past weekend, one of them perished. A young woman, Erikka Lyn Hughes, was found unconscious in her boyfriend's apartment, later dying from a heroin overdose. Erikka was only 21 years old. She had her whole life ahead of her, and her future was destroyed as a result of this epidemic. Her family, bravely and strongly, has chosen to speak out and stand up in the midst of their shock and grief to say that they hope that Erikka's story will inspire action to combat this epidemic of overdose and addiction.

Rampant opioid overdose and abuse and misuse in our country has reached epidemic proportions, and it shows no signs of slowing. In Connecticut, I have seen these stories firsthand. This public health hurricane has swept our State and our Nation, crashing down on the lives of families and innocent people, much as a natural disaster would destroy homes or landscapes, leaving a path of pain, heartbreak, and addiction in its wake.

The numbers in Connecticut are as shocking as they are tragic. Last year in my State, a record number of people--nearly 700--died from opioid overdoses. Sadly, this number is abstract, but it reflects a disheartening trend that has led to a 75-percent increase in prescription drug overdoses in Connecticut since 2012. I have heard stories, seen faces, and heard voices firsthand in roundtables that I conducted around the State of Connecticut--nine in all--involving public health experts, doctors, specialists, public officials, law enforcement, and--maybe most movingly and profoundly--recovering addicts and their families.

I heard from parents who have buried children far too young. I heard from first responders whose quick action saved lives using Narcan. I heard from doctors who understand that change is needed to prevent this disease from spreading further and from families and professionals from Torrington and Rocky Hill, Willimantic and Wethersfield, Bridgeport and New London, New Britain and New Haven--across our State--people who came forward to break the silence and defeat the denial that is one of our greatest enemies in this fight against opioid addiction and abuse.

This problem knows no boundaries and no distinctions in income, race, religion, ZIP Code. It afflicts and affects everyone everywhere, and that is the beginning truth to solve the problem.

I heard heartbreaking stories from a woman who lost both of her sons to addiction. The sobering conversations I had with her family and others, while not always easy, were absolutely crucial to my understanding how widespread and pervasive this problem is. What I heard from them and what I believe is necessary is a call to action. It is more than an effort to honor the legacy of Connecticut citizens who were lost last year--mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, sisters, and brothers--but to teach every one of us to reach those who are still fighting their own private battle against this disease.

Make no mistake. It is a disease. It is every bit a disease--as much as any we have discussed on this floor--requiring research and action and urgent and drastic steps that we can and must provide because it is demeaning and reducing our Nation's fabric. It goes to the core of America.

These conversations led me to do a report. I was inspired by the loved ones and families who have lost the most to do a call to action. It is called ``Opioid Addiction: A Call to Action,'' and it has 23 specific and definite recommendations. Some require funding, but others are without fiscal impact. I hope to discuss them at length in a series of speeches on the floor and not to leave this issue at one talk, one speech, one remark, but to talk about it continuously, as we all should be doing in our communities, because, again, denial and silence are the enemies here.

This report outlines 23 policy proposals focused on curing our Nation's addiction to opioids. The proposals are all grassroots, community-based solutions suggested by people who have firsthand knowledge. They are experts--maybe not in academic training, maybe without Ph.D.s and qualifications based on formal studies, but they know this pervasive problem. They have seen it firsthand, and they have observed the wreckage and destruction that opioid addiction causes. They cannot bring back the lives of their loved ones, but they are determined that others will be spared this hurricane's effects.

These proposals, which touch on prescribing practices, adequate treatment, emergency medical response, law enforcement, and help for our veterans, have the common goal of ending this crisis. They are a response to the most pressing issues I heard throughout our conversations. While none is a panacea, none is a single bullet, all of them together are the beginning of a long process that must be undertaken toward curbing this epidemic.

A place to start is with our prescribing practices, which is where misuse and abuse so often begin. Our Nation makes up 5 percent of the world's population; we use 80 percent of its opioid painkillers. In 2012, doctors wrote 259 million prescriptions for painkillers, enough for every American adult to have a bottle of these controlled substances for themselves.

Many of us have children. My wife Cynthia and I have four. Every one of them plays sports and every one of them has suffered sports injuries. Most of them could have availed themselves of these painkillers. We drew the line and said no. Other parents should be doing the same, but more importantly, the providers should be exercising greater discipline and self-restraint because every one of those bottles, even if prescribed for legitimate injuries such as broken bones, repaired LCLs, and other kinds of injuries, is potentially a risk.

Just last week a couple in Connecticut was arrested for selling painkillers out of their home. For 2 years they collected 1,400 powerful painkillers from their local pharmacy, abusing their own prescriptions in the process. In the pharmacy that got them arrested, the couple picked up 300 oxycodone and 140 oxymorphone tablets. This flagrant abuse of the system should not be possible in our State or any others.

There are legitimate reasons for painkillers to be prescribed, especially in chronic pain or end-of-life situations. There is no need to deprive people of those painkillers when they need them for those inevitable reasons, but my call to action outlines steps to confront this issue where it can be addressed so as to minimize the risk of abuse or misuse or overuse, especially when young people such as our children are involved.

It would mandate training for medical professionals to reduce opioid overprescribing. It would call for drug enforcement agency guidelines for partial fills of these prescription opioids, meaning fewer of these prescription drugs would make it onto our streets.

Of course, reducing prescriptions can't be the only answer, particularly when so many who need care go without it. My report also seeks to improve treatment options, calling for meaningful mental health parity, implementation of the law requiring it, and much more vigorous and effective enforcement to ensure that people who need help actually receive it. This step includes access to medication-assisted therapy that can prove essential to the recovery process.

We can do more to guarantee that Naloxone, a powerful antidote to heroin overdose, remains both affordable and successful. This means holding manufacturers accountable when they begin raising prices to astronomic levels. The prices have been skyrocketing. Local police and firefighters are often unable to afford it in their current budgets. It means also pushing for elimination of copays when it is prescribed at pharmacies. Insurance ought to cover it. It also means that the Federal Government must do its part and increase funding for Narcan so that cash-strapped first responders can actually afford it to save lives.

Our law enforcement officials require both the training and resources needed to keep our streets safe and our communities healthy and drug- free. That means funding to establish prescription drug monitoring programs--effective programs to facilitate training so that police officers can recognize when suspected criminals are actually people struggling with addiction and to assist drug take-back programs throughout our States and Nation that allow the return of unused prescription drugs.

Finally, in my role as ranking member on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, I have encouraged the establishment of more consistent and safe VA prescribing practices and the creation of an integrated service model for mental health and pain management.

I am pleased that the Senate raised this issue and addressed it and passed the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act earlier this year, but that measure is a downpayment. It is only the beginning. I hope policy levels at all levels of government will draw on the strategies delineated in this legislation and in my report and elsewhere to combat the devastating epidemic of addiction and abuse.

Passing new laws is not the only answer. Enforcement and implementation of existing ones is necessary too. The prime example is mental health care, where still, years after President Bush signed that measure in 2008, its implementation is inconsistent and inadequate, and enforcement of mental health parity remains an aspiration, not an action. Part of what we need to do is make sure that existing laws are implemented effectively and fairly and that the investment is made in commonsense, practical measures like the 23 recommendations I have outlined in this report--by no means an exclusive way to deal with this problem.

I have no pride of authorship in these 23 recommendations. I would yield to wiser and better suggestions, but the point is that action is necessary. It is necessary now because every day we lose lives. Despite the best efforts of our first responders and our medical community, we continue to lose lives and futures, and our families continue the grief and heartbreak that I saw in my roundtables and that families in Connecticut feel today.

I thank the Presiding Officer.

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