CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas are leading a coalition of 48 attorneys general in pushing federal regulators to examine recent progress in their fight against opioid abuse.
According to a letter sent January 11 to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the bipartisan coalition specifically seeks a progress report regarding recent steps taken by FDA to combat the opioid crisis, given the new authorities Congress granted the agency in 2018.
In the letter to FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, the AGs say the requested information will help reduce prescription opioid abuse and accidental deaths.
“We have witnessed first-hand the devastation that the opioid epidemic has wrought on states in terms of lives lost and the costs it has imposed on our healthcare system and the broader economy,” Morrisey wrote. “As the chief legal officers of our states, we are committed to using all tools at our disposal to combat this epidemic and to protect patients suffering from chronic pain or addiction, who are among the most vulnerable consumers in our society.”
The coalition’s letter seeks clarification of how the FDA is using and plans to use powers granted under the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act (SUPPORT Act). Those provisions include safer opioid packaging and disposal features, research and issuance of new regulations on non-addictive alternatives to opioids and guidelines for opioid prescribing.
The attorneys general believe the FDA plays a critical role in ensuring both the safety and efficacy of opioids and encouraging non-addictive, non-opioid alternatives for treating pain.
Morrisey's office says the letter continues his commitment to hold government agencies and other actors accountable as part of a holistic approach to attacking opioid abuse from a supply, demand and educational perspective.
In 2017, Morrisey co-led a similar effort with many of these same states asking health insurance companies to review and revise their payment and coverage policies to prioritize non-opioid pain management options for treatment of chronic, non-cancer pain.
In addition to the AGs of West Virginia and New Mexico, the letter also was signed by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.