![]() ![]() We write to request that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) take further action to remove barriers to access buprenorphine. Markey (D-MA), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Cory Booker (D-NJ).įull text of the letter is available here and below. The letter was also signed by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Angus King (I-ME), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV), Edward J. We must ensure the necessary resources and policies are in place so that every American who needs it can find treatment and lifesaving care.” The senators concluded, “The opioid epidemic remains one of the greatest public health crises our nation has ever faced. “Without formal guidance from the DEA, the absence of quantitative thresholds has created chilling effects on access to buprenorphine due to the perceived risks of crossing an undefined threshold by the DEA.” However, more is needed,” urged the senators. “We recognize that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the DEA Diversion Control Division jointly published a Suspicious Orders Q&A on January 20, 2023, which explains that the agency does not place quantitative thresholds or limits on the amounts of controlled substances that a pharmacy can order. Now more than ever, it is critical that the best treatments are made widely available and barriers to interventions are broken down,” wrote the senators. “According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 106,000 Americans died from a drug overdose in the past year alone. ![]() The push from the senators comes as prescribers and patients across the country continue to report difficulty filling buprenorphine prescriptions, despite recent passage of the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act in the recent government funding bill that increased the number of medical professionals authorized to prescribe buprenorphine. Specifically, the senators urge the DEA to initiate a multi-agency evaluation of buprenorphine with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) to eliminate access gaps to the prescription drug to reduce overdose and death from opioid use disorder. Senator Tim Kaine joined Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), as well as a bipartisan group of colleagues, in calling on the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to take further action to remove barriers to buprenorphine, a lifesaving drug used to treat opioid use disorder. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |