A congressional subcommittee will hold a two-day hearing in March to review more than 20 bipartisan bills intended to fight the opioid epidemic, a Thursday announcement said.
The March 21 and 22 hearing is the second hearing a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee will hold regarding the opioid epidemic, this time focusing on public health and addiction prevention efforts.
One bill seeks to make it easier to obtain grants related to opioids, CNN reported Thursday. Another would ultimately require hospitals to show a patient’s opioid history when getting treatment.
The Health Subcommittee also held a hearing in February that reviewed eight bills intended to add protections to patients and potential patients with opioid prescriptions and strengthen law enforcement. A third hearing reviewing additional opioid legislation will be held later this year.
Committee Chairman Greg Walden, an Oregon Republican, expects the legislation to be on the House floor by Memorial Day.
More than 200,000 Americans died from prescription overdoses between 1999 and 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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