On Thursday, U.S. Representatives Susan W. Brooks (R-Ind.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) introduced bipartisan legislation, the Opioid Workforce Act of 2019, to train more doctors equipped to combat the opioid epidemic.
Brooks
“In order to combat the devastating opioid, heroin and fentanyl epidemic that continues to plague communities across our country, a critically important piece of the puzzle is to ensure we have more trained professionals, particularly physicians, who can prevent and treat addiction and substance abuse disorder,” said Brooks. “This bipartisan bill will help provide more residency positions to hospitals that have programs focused on addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry or pain management. The opioid crisis will not stop taking innocent lives overnight, but without more trained doctors ready to help people who are struggling because of substance abuse, drug and opioid related overdose deaths will continue to claim more lives in Indiana and beyond.”
H.R. 2439, the Opioid Workforce Act of 2019, would create 1,000 additional residency positions over five years to hospitals with addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry, or pain management programs.
This legislation to expand graduate medical education (GME) aims to alleviate the worsening physician shortage, which is anticipated to be as high as 121,000 physicians by 2032 according to a study by the Association of American of Medical Colleges. This shortage is particularly acute in the field of addiction medicine and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. This shortfall of doctors threatens to harm our efforts to reverse the opioid epidemic.
The Opioid Workforce Act is endorsed by Indiana University, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Greater New York Hospital Association, the American Hospital Association, American Society of Addiction Medicine, and American College of Academic Addiction Medicine.
Why is it if congress can’t control the bad people (Drug Users) so they want to punish the good people and Doctors?
They are setting up drug neddles free exchanges and even proposed sites to administer drugs to people hooked on drugs.
My Dr. is already hesitant to prescribe me stronger drugs to help my arthritis so now I can’t use my index fingers on both hands ! Due to excessive pain.
I have a judge in Hamilton Co. that has given a grand son 2 – 12 year sentences and he only served 1 year on the 1st one and after 3 0r 4 months on probation he was sentenced to the same 12 year sentence with 10 years suspended for possession of cocaine and other drugs after about 3 months out on parole.
PS:: They took off 2 years credit off the sentence for parole and he only served about 3 0r 4 months of a 2 year parole ”
Same thing on Gun owner ship . Politicians can’t think about how to keep guns away from criminals so they want to punish the good gun owners.
Give the police enough authority and a law to “Pat down” suspicious people for guns and I bet it would take some guns off the streets