House Passes Two McKinley Bills to Fight Opioid Epidemic

Press Release

Today, the House of Representatives passed 10 bipartisan bills addressing health care and opioid abuse, including two bills lead by Congressman David B. McKinley, P.E. (R-W.Va.).

The Block, Report, And Suspend Suspicious Shipments Act (H.R. 3878) requires drug wholesalers to report and stop suspicious orders of prescription drugs. This will prevent massive amounts of pills flooding communities.

The Fairness in Orphan Drug Exclusivity Act (H.R. 4712) will improve access to innovative treatments for substance use disorder by preventing drug companies from abusing the system to block new products from the market and prevent competition.

"Understandably, our nation has focused on COVID-19, but the opioid epidemic is still raging across America. In fact, overdose rates are skyrocketing," said Rep. McKinley. "Congress needs to walk and chew gum at the same time. We can't ignore the opioid epidemic and must build on the work we've done in the past to improve access to treatment and stop deadly drugs from flooding our communities."

"Last congress, the Energy and Commerce Committee conducted an investigation that found massive evidence of pill dumping and highlighted failures by the drug industry and government. One example in the report was that nearly 9 million pills were distributed in just two years to a single pharmacy in West Virginia. We need to make sure that never happens again," added Rep. McKinley.

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