This news from U.S. Senator Brian Schatz is provided as a public service.
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Senate passed sweeping legislation to address the nation’s opioid crisis, including measures authored by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i). Schatz’s provisions would fund new research on non-addictive, non-opioid alternatives to treat and prevent pain and expand the use of telehealth to treat opioid addiction.
“Opioid addiction is a national epidemic, and we need a comprehensive approach to address it,” said Senator Schatz. “Our bill will use technology to help connect health care professionals with more patients and help providers access the continuing education they need to treat addiction. It also invests in more research to find alternative treatments for pain so that we can try to stop opioid addiction before it starts.
If signed into law by the President, the Schatz provisions will:
Give the National Institutes of Health more authority to spur research on the understanding of pain and the discovery of non-addictive painkillers to help treat chronic pain; and