The Food and Drug Administration should use its share of anti-opioid money in the new omnibus spending bill to expand labs and train dogs to sniff out deadly fentanyl that’s slipping through U.S. mail facilities, a top senator proposed Monday.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, Tennessee Republican and chairman of the Senate Health Committee, said a $94 million allotment for the FDA can also help the agency share data instantly with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which screens foreign packages and flags suspicious drug shipments for the FDA.
Last week, Congress pumped nearly $4 billion into efforts to combat the problem as part of a massive spending bill — a multifold increase over amounts that were approved during President Obama’s final months in office.
The biggest slice of money — $1 billion — will be divvied up among the states in the form of opioid-response grants, with nearly $150 million set aside for hard-hit places like New Hampshire and West Virginia and a $40-million share for Indian tribes.
The National Institutes of Health received more than $730 million for its research into the brain’s response to pain, plus the development of overdose-reversing drugs that can compete with potent fentanyl and addiction treatments that last for six months, so patients are less likely to relapse.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will receive more than $460 million to monitor prescribing habits and the rate of overdoses around the nation.
Other allotments will be filtered through federal agencies for medication-assisted treatment, care for babies born to addicted mothers and drug education — including $10 million for a CDC media campaign to urge Americans not to use drugs in the first place.
Mr. Alexander, though, wants the FDA to use its upcoming cash to try to deny fentanyl entry into the U.S. in the first place.
The lack of data on incoming packages and limited resources make it difficult for screeners to interdict every parcel containing deadly fentanyl or other synthetic opioids from clandestine labs overseas, mostly in China.
With more personnel, laser scanners and other state-of-the-art equipment, inspectors should be able to recognize and intercept more of the deadly drugs before they reach sellers and addicted persons in U.S. communities, according to the senator’s office.
“I want to ensure that the Food and Drug Administration has every tool it needs to fight the opioid crisis, and the draft legislation released today will take the next step towards making that possible,” Mr. Alexander said.
The push is part of a government-wide effort to rein in the opioids crisis before it gets worse.
Also Monday, Mr. Alexander released a draft bill that says the FDA can require drug makers to package certain opioids in blister packs, saying it would put doctors and pharmacists in the habit of prescribing fixed, seven-day courses of treatment instead of authorizing unnecessary amount of pills that could be diverted to the street.
The American Dental Association, a trade group representing about 160,000 dentists, said Monday it would support a statutory opioid-dosage limit of seven days for patients with acute pain, setting down a marker that other health associations may follow.
It also supports mandatory continuing eduction on prescribing opioid painkillers and the use of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs to track patients’ use of opioids and deter abuse.
Mr. Alexander’s bill would also encourage manufacturers to include a safe way to dispose of leftover pills in any packaging.
Members of Congress have been touting devices like DisposeRX, a powder that will encased pills in gel — rendering them useless — when mixed with water.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee has been considering legislation that would require companies to provide such products or mail-back pouches — to send unused pills to secure facilities for incineration — with opioid products.
The committee also wants to allow federal inspectors to destroy foreign packages that many contain dangerous drugs.
Typically, if the FDA can’t verify the bona fides of a shipment, it usually has to return it to the sender — who often will just put it right back in the mail, hoping to succeed the next time.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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