WASHINGTON – Congressman Bill Keating has filed a bill in the House of Representatives that he says would strengthen the Drug Enforcement Administration’s authority as the nation deals with the opioid crisis.
Keating’s plan would repeal the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act of 2016. That law has come under fire following a joint investigation by The Washington Post and 60 Minutes that detailed how the DEA can no longer suspend opioid distributions from drug companies when suspicious activity is detected.
Keating and five other representatives from both parties also introduced identical legislation titled the “Restoring Enforcement Standards to Track Opioids Responsively and Effectively Act of 2017.” The group says the proposal represents an effort to work towards the same end goal.
“This issue is too important to place pride of ownership or pride of party ahead of working for meaningful change,” Keating said. “It is especially important that these identical pieces of legislation will allow law enforcement to retroactively deal with investigations that might have commenced after the 2016 law took effect.”
“We can draw a direct line between oversupply of prescription opioids and the tragic epidemic we find ourselves fighting today, an epidemic that has dealt crushing blows to so many families – including my own. We cannot be giving bad actors a free pass,” Keating added.
Keating is a member of the Congressional Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery Caucus and the Bipartisan Heroin Task Force.
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