Capps Introduces Legislation to Better Understand Pain Treatment

Press Release

Today, Rep. Lois Capps (CA-24) introduced the Safe Treatments and Opportunities to Prevent (STOP) Pain Act with bipartisan cosponsors Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC-02) and Rep. David McKinley (R-WV-01).The STOP Pain Act would focus research on the causes of and new treatments for pain with the goal of reducing opioid use and abuse. The bill's introduction in the House follows last week's successful passage of a comprehensive legislative package to address the national opioid epidemic.

Specifically, the STOP Pain Act would authorize the National Institute of Health (NIH) to intensify and coordinate research into the understanding of pain, therapies for chronic pain, and alternatives to opioids for pain treatment. It also instructs the NIH to prioritize recommendations made by the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee in its research priorities. This committee was first called for in Capps' National Pain Care Policy Act, which was included in the Affordable Care Act.

"129 people die in the United States every day from prescription drug overdose, of which many involve opioids," Capps said. "As this crisis worsens, our nation's scientific community must direct attention to better understanding the causes of pain in order to better diagnose and treat it. The STOP Pain Act would enhance the research being done at the National Institutes of Health in this area--particularly chronic pain, to improve treatments and long-term pain management so that we can stop opioid abuse before it starts."

"This information warrants action and this is why I am working with my colleague Rep. Lois Capps to introduce the STOP Pain Act in the House," Ellmers said. "This legislation allows us to discover and develop solutions to drug abuse and opioid addiction through continued research and development. I'm optimistic our efforts will help to save lives and prevent addiction before it begins."

Capps has been a longtime advocate for pain care research. In 2009 the House passed Capps' bipartisan legislation, the National Pain Care Policy Act (H.R. 756), which was eventually included in the Affordable Care Act. The legislation aimed to combat pain in four ways: by authorizing an Institute of Medicine Conference on Pain Care; authorizing the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee at the National Institutes of Health; providing comprehensive pain care education and training for health care professionals; and by instituting a public awareness campaign on pain management.

Companion legislation to the STOP Pain Act was introduced by Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) in the Senate earlier this year.

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