Senate Health Panel Approves Opioid Bill

The Senate Health Committee has unanimously voted to send the panel's bipartisan opioid bill to the chamber's floor, reports The Hill . The panel held seven hearings on the opioid crisis, including one on the discussion draft of the bill introduced by Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and ranking member Patty Murray (D-Wash.). "The challenge before us has sometimes been described as needing a moonshot," Alexander said during the markup. "I believe that solving the opioid crisis might require the energy of a moonshot, but ultimately, it's not something that can be solved by an agency in Washington, D.C." The bill includes more than 40 proposals from 38 different senators. Specifically, it includes measures attempting to make it easier to prescribe smaller packs of opioids for limited durations, spur the development of nonaddictive painkillers, and bolster the detection of illegal drugs at the border.