Senator Hassan on New Congressional Report on the Diversion of Prescription Opioids

WASHINGTON – Senator Hassan released the following statement on a new report from the House Energy and Commerce Committee that found that drug distributors and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) failed in their responsibility to prevent the diversion of prescription opioids for illicit uses:

“For years, small towns were inundated with millions more opioid pills than there were people, yet drug distribution companies turned a blind eye to these clear warning signs while reaping massive profits. I pushed to include measures in the opioid bill that the President signed earlier this year that will begin making progress on this issue by giving the DEA and states better tools to address suspicious opioid orders and to crack down on the companies that have helped fuel this crisis, but there is far more work to do. I will keep doing everything in my power to hold bad actors in the pharmaceutical industry accountable for their reckless behavior that has put the health and safety of communities across America at risk.”

Senator Hassan successfully pushed to include her Preventing Drug Diversion Act, which was cosponsored by Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), in the bipartisan Substance Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act that the President signed earlier this year. The Preventing Drug Diversion Act cracks down on bad actors in the pharmaceutical industry by strengthening the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) system for addressing suspicious orders of opioid-based prescription drugs from drug distributors. It also requires the DEA to provide more information to the states to help them better enforce state laws. This measure is in line with the recommendations from the Energy and Commerce Committee.

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