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DEA Opioid Quota Coverage
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Leahy pushes for cut in opiate pills
Jul 13, 2017 | Rutland Herald
By Neal P. Goswami
Sen. Patrick Leahy is among a group of Democrats asking the Drug Enforcement -
Senators say DEA should rein in opioid quotas to stop abuse
Jul 12, 2017 | Associated Press
A group of U.S. senators including Maine's Angus King is calling on the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to prevent painkiller abuse by setting lower opioid production quotas for next year. -
Leahy, senators urge DEA to lower opioid quotas
Jul 12, 2017 | Vermont Business Magazine
US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) has joined Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and a group of 15 other senators in sending a letter Tuesday to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), urging the agency to better prevent painkillers from flooding the market by setting lower opioid production quotas for 2018. Last year the DEA heeded the senators’ call (link is external) to alleviate the opioid epidemic hitting Vermont and the nation by reducing nearly all opioid quotas by 25 percent or more. This was the first reduction of its kind in more than 20 years, but DEA-approved opioid production volumes remain troublingly high — including 55 percent higher oxycodone levels in 2017 than in 2007. -
Senators Urge DEA to Lower Opioid Quotas
Jul 12, 2017 | West Virginia Public Broadcasting
By Kara Leigh Lofton
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and fifteen other U.S. Senators sent a letter to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency yesterday urging them to further lower the amount of opioids manufacturers are allowed to produce in 2018. -
16 Senators Urge DEA to Lower Opioid Supply Again
Jul 12, 2017 | Pain News Network
By Pat Anson
Sixteen U.S. senators have sent a letter to the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration asking the agency to consider further cuts in the supply of hydrocodone, oxycodone and other opioid pain medication in 2018.
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Leahy pushes for cut in opiate pills
Jul 13, 2017 | Rutland Herald
By Neal P. Goswami
Sen. Patrick Leahy is among a group of Democrats asking the Drug Enforcement Administration to further reduce the number of prescription opiate-based painkillers for sale in the U.S. in 2018
Leahy has joined 15 other Democratic senators in sending a letter to DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg asking for a cut in painkiller production to help address the opiate addiction epidemic that has taken hold in Vermont and across the country.
Leahy said the DEA responded to a similar call from senators last year and reduced opiate quotas by about 25 percent in 2017. That was the first reduction in the number of prescription painkillers for sale in more than 20 years.
Still, the number of drugs approved by the DEA for sale remains high. Leahy said there is 55 percent more oxycodone available in 2017 than in 2007.
In the letter, initiated by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill, the senators noted that between 1993 and 2015 the DEA “allowed aggregate production quotas for oxycodone to increase 39-fold, hydrocodone to increase 12-fold, hydromorphone to increase 23-fold, and fentanyl to increase 25-fold.”
“As the gatekeeper for how many opioids are allowed to be sold legally every year in the United States, we commend DEA on taking initial steps last year to lower production quotas for the first time in a generation,” the senators wrote.
“However, the 2017 production quota levels for numerous schedule II opioids remain dramatically higher than they were a decade ago. Further reductions, through DEA’s existing quota-setting authority, are necessary to rein in this epidemic.”
Vermont and other states around the country have seen a dramatic increase in recent years in the number of people addicted to opiates. Experts say the increase in opiate-based prescription drugs has led to the widespread addiction problem and resulted in addicts using heroin and other illicit opiates to feed their addictions.
State officials say more than 6,500 Vermonters are currently receiving treatment for opioid abuse, one of the highest per-capita rates in the country. The Vermont Department of Health has estimated that as many as 80 percent of Vermonters who have used heroin in the past year began by misusing prescription painkillers.
Rebecca Kelley, spokeswoman for Gov. Phil Scott, said Scott “believes it is critical we address the opioid epidemic any way we can, while being cognizant of the needs of health care providers to effectively manage patients’ pain.”
“ It appears the letter struck that balance by asking for a continuation of the quota reductions that began last year,” Kelley said.
She noted that new prescribing rules for providers went into effect July 1 that limit the number of painkillers doctors can prescribe for acute pain. The rules are aimed at curbing the misuse of opiate painkillers.
Leahy commended state officials for their efforts and said federal agencies must also help states combat the opiate epidemic.
“ By enacting stricter prescribing standards, Vermont has taken meaningful action to reduce the likelihood that Vermonters will become addicted to opioids,” Leahy said. “But this is a nationwide crisis and there are limits to what states can do on their own.”
He added, “The DEA has a responsibility to regulate the overall amount of opioids that are produced and setting reasonable quotas will have a real and immediate effect on the potential diversion and misuse of these addictive drugs.”
In the letter, the senators asked the DEA to take several actions to boost accountability and transparency in the regulatory system. They called on the DEA to provide “an analysis of the approved 2016 opioid production quotas relative to the amount that was ultimately used. They are also seeking:
— An explanation of how the DEA determines its 2018 quotas and, if there is an increase, “a justification of why the public health benefits of increasing the quotas outweigh the consequences of having an increased volume of such substance available for sale and potential diversion in the United States.”
— Public posting of the approved individual production quota for each manufacturer of schedule II opioids, including oxycodone, hydrocodone, oxymorphone, hydromorphone and fentanyl.
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Senators say DEA should rein in opioid quotas to stop abuse
Jul 12, 2017 | Associated Press
A group of U.S. senators including Maine's Angus King is calling on the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to prevent painkiller abuse by setting lower opioid production quotas for next year.
King, an independent, is signing on to a letter sent by Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin to the DEA. The senators say DEA-approved opioid production levels remain too high despite a cut last year. For example, oxycodone levels were more than 50 percent higher this year than they were in 2007.
King, Durbin and a group of other senators say in a statement that lower production levels are necessary to "rein in this epidemic" of opioid abuse. The senators also say they want the DEA to step up its transparency in its process of setting quotas.
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Leahy, senators urge DEA to lower opioid quotas
Jul 12, 2017 | Vermont Business Magazine
US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) has joined Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and a group of 15 other senators in sending a letter Tuesday to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), urging the agency to better prevent painkillers from flooding the market by setting lower opioid production quotas for 2018. Last year the DEA heeded the senators’ call(link is external) to alleviate the opioid epidemic hitting Vermont and the nation by reducing nearly all opioid quotas by 25 percent or more. This was the first reduction of its kind in more than 20 years, but DEA-approved opioid production volumes remain troublingly high — including 55 percent higher oxycodone levels in 2017 than in 2007.
“As the gatekeeper for how many opioids are allowed to be sold legally every year in the United States, we commend DEA on taking initial steps last year to lower production quotas for the first time in a generation,” wrote the senators. “However, the 2017 production quota levels for numerous schedule II opioids remain dramatically higher than they were a decade ago. Further reductions, through DEA’s existing quota-setting authority, are necessary to rein in this epidemic.”
Durbin, Leahy and the other senators also pressed the agency to improve transparency in its quota-setting process by providing an explanation of how it reaches a determination and publishing quotas granted to individual manufacturers of schedule II opioids.
The letter comes on the heels of a Vermont visit made by Richard Baum, acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). During his visit, Baum praised Vermont’s efforts to combat opioid abuse, particularly its innovative ‘hub and spoke’ treatment system, which he described as “an incredibly valuable national model.”
More than 6500 Vermonters are currently in treatment for opioid abuse, one of the highest treatment rates per capita in the country. The Vermont Department of Health estimates that as many as 4 out of 5 Vermonters who used heroin in the past year started by misusing prescription painkillers. Vermont recently enacted rules that limit the number of painkillers that doctors can prescribe in an effort to cut down on opioid abuse.
In addition to Durbin and Leahy, other senators signing the letter are Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Angus King (I-Maine), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Al Franken (D-Minn.).
Between 1993 and 2015, the DEA allowed production of oxycodone to increase 39-fold, hydrocodone to increase 12-fold, hydromorphone to increase 23-fold, and fentanyl to increase 25-fold. As a result, the number of opioid pain relievers dispensed in the United States has skyrocketed over the last two decades: from 76 million prescriptions in 1991, to more than 245 million prescriptions in 2014. The increase in opioid-related overdose deaths has mirrored the dramatic rise in opioid prescribing, with a record high of 106 Vermonters dying of opiate overdoses in 2016 alone.
Full text of the letter is available here: https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/5/0/506a52ab-2d30-47fb-8e1b-24f0b9d7d2fb/8CB0194ADC1477BE943180FAE1BA13C2.senate-ltr-to-dea-on-2018-opioid-production-quotas.pdf
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Senators Urge DEA to Lower Opioid Quotas
Jul 12, 2017 | West Virginia Public Broadcasting
By Kara Leigh Lofton
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and fifteen other U.S. Senators sent a letter to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency yesterday urging them to further lower the amount of opioids manufacturers are allowed to produce in 2018.
The letter calls specifically for reducing opioid quotas, which are the legal amount of opioids drug companies are allowed to manufacture in the U.S.
Last year, the DEA lowered the opioid quotas by 25 percent or more in response to a similar letter signed by Manchin and five other Congressional colleagues. That reduction was the first of its kind in over twenty years.
Despite the previous reduction, a press release from Manchin’s office said that the DEA-approved opioid production volume remains troublingly high. Oxycodone, for instance, is produced at levels 55 percent higher in 2017 than 2007.
The senators also asked for more transparency in the DEA’s quota setting process.
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16 Senators Urge DEA to Lower Opioid Supply Again
Jul 12, 2017 | Pain News Network
By Pat Anson
Sixteen U.S. senators have sent a letter to the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration asking the agency to consider further cuts in the supply of hydrocodone, oxycodone and other opioid pain medication in 2018.
The DEA, which regulates that amount of controlled substances that can be manufactured each year, reduced the quota for Schedule II opioids by 25 percent or more in 2017 after receiving a similar letter last summer. The supply of hydrocodone, one of the most widely used painkillers, was cut by 34 percent.
“We commend DEA on taking initial steps last year to lower production quotas for the first time in a generation,” the senators wrote to DEA acting administrator Chuck Rosenberg.
“However, the 2017 production quota levels for numerous schedule II opioids remain dramatically higher than they were a decade ago. Further reductions, through DEA’s existing quota-setting authority, are necessary to rein in this epidemic.”
The letter, which was drafted by Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin, was signed by 15 other Democrats and one Independent: Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Angus King (I-Maine).
Between 1993 and 2015, the senators say the DEA allowed production quotas for oxycodone to increase 39-fold, hydrocodone to increase 12-fold, hydromorphone to increase 23-fold, and fentanyl to increase 25-fold.
Production quotas may have been rising, but opioid prescriptions have actually been falling for several years. Last week the CDC released a report acknowledging that opioid prescribing in the U.S. has fallen by 18 percent since 2010.
Many PNN readers have complained that since the 2017 quotas were adopted they now have trouble getting legitimate prescriptions filled because pharmacies do not keep enough pain medication in stock.
“My pharmacy has been trying to fill my pain medication for 6 days now,” wrote Karen. “So I call my pain management office and (they) don't know there is a shortage! Help us get our medication!”
“I am horrified by the absolute stupidity of these lawmakers who have no business making any decisions about my pain management!” wrote Tracey, who has been taking pain medication for 5 years. “All of the lawmakers said this would not affect those with already established chronic pain! Well guess what they lied!”
“I am writing to each one of these senators and letting them know how I feel on this issue. We need to vote these people OUT of office come election time, send them a powerful message. Although at this point the damage is already done. People like myself shouldn't have to consider suicide to end their constant pain,” wrote Jenny.
While many patients complain of shortages, the senators who signed the letter talk about states being “flooded” with opioids.
“Pharmaceutical companies have irresponsibly flooded states with millions and millions of opioids pills – enough, in fact, for every adult in America to have their own bottle,” Sen. King said in a statement. “And the consequences are both clear and dire: As the number of pills has grown, so has the drug epidemic. By scaling back the overabundance of these opioids, the DEA can help directly stem the tide of addiction while still also ensuring that those who suffer from chronic pain have the medication they need.”
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