U.S. Reps. Ed Whitfield (R-KY) and Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) were pleased to see their legislation to reauthorize the National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Reauthorization Act (NASPER) passed by the House this week.
NASPER, originally passed in 2005, provides grant funding to states so they can implement prescription-drug-monitoring programs (PDMPs) that help combat prescription-drug abuse across the nation. The measure will now be sent to the U.S. Senate for consideration.
“Prescription-drug overdose death has reached epidemic proportions, now killing more Americans than automobile accidents,” Whitfield said. “Ten years ago, NASPER was signed into law to assist states in combating prescription-drug abuse through the creation and implementation of prescription-drug monitoring programs, which experts agree are one of the most promising tools to address this epidemic. While there is no silver bullet to solve this problem, we do have an opportunity to make a difference by advancing this important legislation.”
“Today’s bipartisan passage of NASPER speaks to the breadth and depth of the opiate-abuse epidemic,” Kennedy said. “There are few people in this country who have been spared the heartbreak of watching a loved one, neighbor or friend fall victim to opiate addiction. It’s an epidemic striking red states and blue states, small towns and big cities, neighborhoods rich and poor. NASPER works to strengthen one important piece of the solution – prescription monitoring. It will empower states and advocates on the front lines of this crisis to build successful PDMPs that can communicate across state lines and help identify at-risk behavior, a key first step in fending off addiction before it starts.”
Whitfield has represented Kentucky’s First District in the U.S. House since 1995. Born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, in 1943, Whitfield was educated at the University of Kentucky and serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee.