NACDS op-ed targets prescription drug abuse, access

ARLINGTON, Va. — An op-ed in Tuesday’s Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call emphasizes the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ commitment to curbing prescription drug abuse and diversion while ensuring legitimate patient access to prescription medications.  



The op-ed, by NACDS President and CEO Steve Anderson, cites NACDS’ support for new legislation (S. 1277) by U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. The bill would create a commission of federal and state governmental agencies, law enforcement and healthcare professionals to collaborate on solutions for drug abuse and drug access alike.

 

In addition to publication in the print version of Roll Call, the op-ed was also published online at CQ.com and RollCall.com and was included in Tuesday’s Kaiser Health News Daily Health Policy Report.

 

The text of the op-ed follows:

 

Collaboration Needed to Address Prescription Drug Abuse and Access Issues

 

Partisanship usually gets the blame when Washington fails to muster an appropriate governmental response to the nation’s challenges. But when it comes to confronting prescription drug abuse, the divide within the government is caused not by the culprit of partisan stripes, but rather by departmental silos. That needs to change.

 

Currently, when it comes to prescription drug abuse, there is the response of the enforcement agencies, and there is the response of the health agencies. These approaches all-too-often remain separate and out of sync. As a result, stories of those ravaged by drug abuse are pitted against stories of those deprived of access to prescription medications that they need for legitimate purposes. Both aspects of human suffering need to be figured into the solution.  On July 10, Sen. Boxer introduced the Combating Prescription Drug Abuse Act to do just that.

 

The bill builds on a concept that gained attention during the 112th Congress, and that now deserves action. It would create a commission consisting of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, patient groups, state attorneys general, local law enforcement officials, and representatives of pharmacies, prescribers, hospitals, and drug wholesalers. The commission would be charged with identifying solutions to prevent or reduce drug diversion and abuse and to ensure that patients continue to have legitimate access to medications.

 

Eight Senators started down this path earlier this year, writing to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to request a survey of what can be done to “successfully increase coordination in our efforts to combat prescription drug abuse.” The signatories included Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY), Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV). The diversity of this group by party, ideology and geography symbolizes the collaboration necessary among federal agencies, and should not be overlooked.  

 

Lack of coordination is not unique to efforts to confront prescription drug abuse. In March, GAO frequently used words including “fragmentation,” “overlap,” and “inefficiencies” to describe the government’s approach to drug abuse of all varieties. Lack of inter-agency coordination also has been a key focus of numerous and diverse issue areas, from national security, to disaster preparedness, to education programs. More positively, concerted efforts to improve cooperation on priority issues have been known to improve performance. Improved coordination for the purpose of averting terrorism, for example, has been credited with thwarting attacks on the homeland.

 

To hear a story of one family that has been devastated by prescription drug abuse is to receive motivation to tackle the problem. Yet to hear a story of a suffering patient, whose treatment requires legitimate use of an appropriately prescribed medication, serves as equal motivation to protect access to that medication. Both of these scenarios are worth working for, and they are worth working for together.

 

Some might call it a shame that legislation is needed to foster collaboration within government and to prevent inconsistencies in government policies, but it would be more productive to put shame aside, recognize the need, and meet it. The real shame will come if the government does not make collaboration the focus of its efforts to address prescription drug abuse, and other challenges, now and into the future.

 

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