Senators Bennet and Collins Have Their Hearts in the Right Place, But Their Eyes on the Wrong Target

Jeffrey A. SingerSenator Susan Collins (R ‑ME) wrote anop ‐​ed for Seacoastonline this week expressing her concerns about skyrocketing drug overdose deaths. According to the most recentdata from the National Center for Health Statistics, 90 percent of opioid ‐​related overdose deaths involve illicit fentanyl, and 15 percent involve diverted prescription pain pills. In her column, Senator Collins expressed pride in a proposal aimed at reducing overdoses that she co‐​sponsored with Senator Michael Bennet (D‑CO). Unfortunately, while the legisla tion was well‐​intended, it placed too much emphasis on educating doctors to curtail opioid prescribing to their patients in pain and not enough on the root cause of the surge in fentanyl‐​related deaths: the “iron law of prohibition. ”Though their legislation laudably eliminated the requirement that doctors who treat addiction with buprenorphine go through the onerous process of obtaining a  special “X” waiver from the Drug Enforcement Administration, it placed a new burden on all doctors who treat pain: they must take an 8 ‑hour course in opioid prescribing for pain that is approved by the DEA in order to maintain their narcotics prescribing license. The American Medical Association correctly opposed this provision arguing that more than 40 states already require physicians to take similar courses, the courses have not reduced overdose deaths, and the added burden is likely to make some doctors quit...

Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 9, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs