The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation nearly unanimously on Friday to stop opioid overdoses as the prescription pill epidemic spreads across America. Democrats initially vowed to vote against the bill, but ultimately joined with the GOP majority to approve of the package by a vote of 407 to 5.
The conference report is expected to coast through the U.S. Senate, and later, be signed into law by President Obama. The bipartisan effort is expected to be one of the biggest legislative achievements in D.C. this year, signaling that lawmakers are increasingly concerned about the threats prescription pill abuse impose upon Americans from all walks of life.
House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) called the legislation “the most serious and comprehensive effort ever undertaken by this body to tackle this problem.”
The House Committee on Appropriations also released a proposed health spending bill this week that would authorize an additional $500 million in funding to combat the prescription opioid crisis that claimed the lives of more than 165,000 Americans from 1999 to 2014.
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