Preventing Overdoses and Saving Lives Act forthcoming from Hill

U.S. Rep. French Hill (R-AR) on Sept. 7 announced plans to introduce legislation that would help states create strategies for responding to America’s ongoing opioid crisis.

“This legislation and the opioid crisis are personal to me,” Rep. Hill said during a press conference on Tuesday. “Like many central Arkansans and families across the nation, my family and I have lost friends to overdoses.”

The congressman said he will soon unveil the Preventing Overdoses and Saving Lives Act, which would create a grant program that allows states and localities to conduct research on the opioid crisis, establish a strategic response plan, and implement co-prescribing in their jurisdictions. Co-prescribing is when a doctor prescribes both an opioid and an opioid overdose reversal drug, like naloxone, together.

“Since coming to Congress, I have wanted to focus time and attention on the opioid crisis raging across Arkansas and throughout the country,” said Rep. Hill. “We must create solutions at the state and national level and this bill, inspired by my friend Kirk Lane, would complement the co-prescribing law from the state legislature while encouraging other states to adopt co-prescribing practices as well.” 

Lane, who is Arkansas Drug Director, joined Rep. Hill during the press conference, along with Paula Cunningham, director of the Parker Gill Foundation, and Teresa Belew, director of corporate affairs at Speakup About Drugs.

“I am proud to support this bill because it educates, defeats stigma, and builds collaboration. These three elements are vital to reversing the deadly trend that we have seen nationally in overdoses,” Lane said. “This bill will be a critical part of our strategy in Arkansas. Thank you, Congressman Hill, for your heart in bringing this forward.”

If enacted, the bill would establish a grant program administered by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that would be open to all 50 states, any Indian tribe, any territory, and the District of Columbia, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Hill’s staff. 

Up to 80 percent of the grant must be used for research and developing a strategic plan on the opioid crisis, while at least 20 percent of the grant must be used for co-prescribing, the summary says.