Keeping up the Fight Against the Opioid Crisis

Press Release

As the country continues to fight COVID-19, we can't forget about an epidemic that has been claiming thousands of American lives for years: the opioid crisis. Thankfully, the Trump administration continues to keep the opioid crisis a priority. Yesterday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced the agencies are partnering together on a new pilot program to crack down on illegal opioid sales online.

To help prevent these illegal online sales, the FDA will notify internet registries when a website operator has not responded to an FDA warning letter on illegal opioid sales within a specified timeframe. With this information from the FDA and NTIA, the internet registry will decide whether to voluntarily step in to take action against the website operator.

Unfortunately, illegal sales of opioids on the internet is not a new issue. In an April 2018 hearing, Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) raised this very issue with Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Facebook. McKinley pressed Zuckerberg on Facebook ads offering purchase of illegal opioids, and following that questioning, Facebook took down those ads. McKinley's home state of West Virginia has been hit particularly hard by the opioid crisis. In fact, an Energy and Commerce Committee-led investigation into pill dumping found that, in a small West Virginia town of 406 people, about 9 million opioids went to one pharmacy over a two-year period.

Under then-E&C Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), the committee took a comprehensive legislative and investigative approach to fighting the opioid crisis. This month marks the second anniversary of the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act passing the House. This legislation was signed into law on October 24, 2018. Two years later, we've seen these efforts are working. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported a decrease in drug overdose deaths from October 2018-19 using provisional data. As the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act is providing resources to combat the opioid epidemic, Energy & Commerce continues to conduct oversight through letters and hearings, as well as passing additional legislation when needed. Our fight against the opioid epidemic continues.

Even in the midst of a pandemic, we must make sure to keep our eye on the ball when it comes to other public health issues, such as the opioid crisis. It's good to see the Trump administration is working in innovative ways to stop bad actors from pouring opioids into our communities.

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