WOOD TV: New federal effort to address opioid drug abuse

A large package of bills aimed at combating opioid abuse and addiction is heading to a conference committee in Washington D.C. after being passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.

The committee will attempt to reconcile differences with similar legislation in the U.S. Senate.

"It's clear that this is an epidemic that has no boundaries and does not discriminate," U.S. Rep. Fred Upton said of abuse of prescription painkillers and heroin.

The Republican from St. Joseph chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Dr. Corey Waller with the American Society of Addiction Medicine says that there has been a "200 percent increase in opioid-related deaths" in adults ages 25 to 54.

U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, says the numbers are equally stark in Michigan, too:

"Approximately 1,700 in Michigan alone, in fact a little more than that, died in 2014 our most recent records from opioid abuse or heroin overdose," Walberg said.

Walberg, Waller, Upton and dozens of other lawmakers are leading a charge to combat the problems caused by the commonplace use of opioids to manage pain.

"Back when we were told we were doing a bad job treating pain back in the late 90s, which we were, we were given really only one chose to treat that pain and that was an opioid," Waller said.

Norco, Vicodin, Dilaudid and oxycodone were prescribed often and to practically everyone. That resulted in powerful addictions that lead to prescription drug abuse, even addiction to heroin.

That combined with what Waller calls the stigma of addiction that doesn't allow the treatment of addiction as other diseases has led the American Society of Addiction Medicine to work with Congress to develop and pass legislation that they hope will address the problem on a number of levels and deal with the unintended consequences of trying to keep patients comfortable.

"That's going to be the most comprehensive legislation ever passed for the treatment of patients with addiction," Waller said.

The conference committee will continue their work this summer.

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