Schatz, Hatch, Colleagues Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Improve Treatment for Chronic Pain, Find Alternatives to Opioids
WASHINGTON –Today, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) introduced the Safe Treatments and Opportunities to Prevent (STOP) Pain Act, bipartisan legislation that would strengthen research for treatment of chronic pain and find alternatives to opioids, which can be dangerous when abused. The STOP Pain Act is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.).
“Our bill helps health researchers find alternative treatments for chronic pain so that we can stop opioid addiction before it even starts,” said Senator Schatz.
“According to the Utah Department of Health, 24 Utahns die every month from prescription drug overdoses, often with the prescribed medication they receive to treat chronic pain,” said Senator Hatch. “From 2012 to 2014, drug poisoning fatalities in Utah outpaced deaths due to firearms, falls, and motor vehicle crashes. For our state, the stakes could not be higher. This amendment will help the NIH to intensify its research to better understand pain, develop new therapies for treatment, and eventually find alternatives to opioids. These efforts will ultimately save lives by fighting addiction and preventing the misuse of prescription drugs.”
Today, about 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain. With few treatment options, medical professionals often prescribe opioids to manage pain relief. Opioids, which include such medications as morphine, codeine, and oxycodone, are classified as narcotics. They have addictive potential and can be dangerous when abused. The national epidemic of opioid dependency and addiction underscores the need for alternative treatments for chronic pain.
“We must look for innovative ways to treat chronic pain without relying on drugs that can have such a harmful impact on our society,” said Senator Tester. “Investing in research and development is the surefire way to come up with solutions to our nation’s addiction crisis.”
“A better understanding of chronic pain can lead to better treatments that reduce the risk of drug abuse and addiction. This bill would give the National Institutes of Health greater ability to focus its resources on meeting this challenge,” said Senator Cochran.
“Prescription opioid abuse has become a national epidemic that is having devastating effects on our families and our communities in Maine and across America. As the scope of this crisis continues to expand, we cannot ignore a key contributing factor: the over prescription of opioids in our country,” said Senator Collins. “This bill would help spur the development of safe and effective therapies for chronic pain and alternatives to opioids, and coordinate and enhance research at the National Institutes of Health to help us better understand pain.”
“I have been fighting to improve pain care management for our families- and especially our veterans – who are struggling with chronic pain so we can find more effective therapies and move away from using opioids as a one-size-fits all approach. This bipartisan legislation will move us in the right direction and ensure that NIH accelerates critical research to better understand chronic pain and to help discover new treatments, including alternatives to opioids to help treat pain,” said Senator Baldwin.
The Schatz-Hatch legislation would direct the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to intensify and coordinate research regarding the understanding of pain; the discovery and development of therapies for chronic pain; and the development of alternatives to opioids for effective pain treatments.
The STOP Pain Act would also ensure that this research would be executed with consideration of recommendations made by the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee in concert with the Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force, and in accordance with the National Pain Strategy, the Federal Pain Research Strategy, and the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2016-2020.
