By Katy Sword
The Columbian
The opioid epidemic cost the state of Washington more than $9 billion in 2016, according to an analysis by the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
Of that total economic cost, more than $7 billion comes from opioid-related deaths. The remaining $2 billion is attributed to health care costs, addiction treatment, criminal justice and lost productivity.
“This new analysis shows just how much our communities are losing economically as they work to face the many challenges of the opioid epidemic,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., in a press release. “And while we can show that opioid-related deaths cost billions to Washington state, we also know that no calculation can show the loss each one of those tragedies meant to families and loved ones across our state.”
The analysis was released Monday in advance of a committee hearing Tuesday to push forward a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Murray and Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. The bill, known as the Opioids Crisis Response Act of 2018, was unanimously advanced out of committee after more than seven months of work on the bill. The bill will now go to the Senate for a vote.
If the bill passes, the House will then vote on it and President Donald Trump will also need to sign off. In March, Trump unveiled proposals aimed at combating the opioid epidemic with a greater focus on increasing criminal justice measures and utilizing the death penalty as a maximum penalty for dealers.
Murray said the Senate’s bipartisan legislation will build on existing efforts to give communities necessary resources to respond to the opioid crisis. It also responds to concerns Murray encountered while traveling across the state discussing the epidemic.
“(Families) are demanding, and they deserve, additional serious federal action to support and strengthen the incredible efforts I’ve seen from Washingtonians working at hospitals, shelters, schools, and communities on the front lines of the opioid crisis,” Murray said. “By working together, listening to researchers, officials, experts, and families facing the crisis, and pulling in ideas from both sides of the aisle — we have been able to take an important step with this legislation toward addressing the wide set of challenges caused by the opioid epidemic.”
The bill includes several proposals, ranging from development of nonaddictive painkillers, to improving detection and seizure of drugs like fentanyl, and giving state grants to improve community response.
The Opioids Crisis Response Act of 2018 also could require drug manufacturers to give patients safe options to dispose of unused opioids, give states support to improve prescription drug-monitoring programs, and give the Federal Drug Administration the authority to package certain drugs in smaller packs for a designated treatment duration.
In total, the legislation includes 38 separate points addressed to eight federal agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
“These are just a few of the many ideas we were able to agree on in this legislation,” Murray said during the committee hearing Tuesday. “This bill isn’t just a single step to address the opioid crisis, it is many important steps. But it certainly cannot be the last one.”
