U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN) and more than two dozen colleagues requested an update from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on how it is minimizing over-prescriptions of opioids to the nation’s military veterans.
“As members of Congress who have been actively involved in crafting policy to prevent the overprescribing of opioids to veterans, we write with concern over a recent report … from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) that found most Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) clinicians are not adhering to requirements to check state prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) for patients engaged with opioid therapy,” wrote Rep. Walorski and 26 other lawmakers in an Oct. 30 letter sent to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie.
Among the members joining Rep. Walorski in signing the letter are U.S. Reps. Susan Brooks (R-IN), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Mike Turner (R-OH), Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), and Ann Kuster (D-NH).
Reps. Walorski and Kuster introduced the VA Prescription Data Accountability Act of 2017, H.R. 1545, which became law that year and requires VA clinicians to check PDMPs for patients receiving opioid therapy.
Recently, however, the OIG reported that from April 1, 2017, through March 31, 2018, VA clinicians failed to check PDMP databases for 567,000 of the 779,000 VA patients who are currently undergoing treatment with opioids, according to the lawmakers’ letter.
“It is estimated that 107,000 of the 567,000 patients for whom VA clinicians failed to make the required PDMP checks were at risk for opioid abuse or addiction due to poorly managed opioid treatment,” wrote Walorski and her colleagues. “Even more concerning, two-thirds of the 66 VA clinicians who were interviewed said they were unaware of the department policy regarding PDMPs, and only a quarter received training on PDMPs.”
Due to the nation’s ongoing prescription drug abuse crisis, which the members wrote also has had a significant impact on veterans, they said that PDMP databases are proven effective and “are valuable tools in tracking the coordination of prescriptions, preventing drug abuse and diversion, and reducing doctor shopping.”
Rep. Walorski and her colleagues requested an update on the actions VA is taking to carry out the recommendations outlined in the OIG report to ensure that VA clinicians are in full compliance with the law, according to the letter.