The 4th Annual National Rx Drug Abuse Summit was held from April 6th through April 9th, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. The event is the largest collaboration of professionals from across the nation, and focused on impactful solutions to the prescription drug abuse problem in America.
Summit Overview
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared prescription drug abuse a public health crisis in 2012. Professionals from all walks of life came together at the Summit to work on solutions to the prescription drug abuse epidemic facing our nation.
Participants included professionals from local, state and federal agencies. Also participating were business professionals, academia, clinicians, counselors, treatment providers, educators, advocates, and state and national leaders.
Also held in conjunction with the National Rx Drug Abuse Summit was the 2nd Annual SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) Marijuana Education Summit on April 9th, 2015. Focus of the SAM Summit was on science-based marijuana education and awareness.
Sponsored by Operation UNITE (Unlawful Narcotics Investigations, Treatment and Education, Inc), summit sessions were divided into eight educational divisions targeting information relevancy for participants in their particular professional fields.
The eight educational profession-specific divisions included: Law Enforcement, Education and Advocacy, Clinical, Pharmacy, Medical Marijuana, Third-Party Pater, Treatment or Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs).
Summit Results
The Summit was attended by more than 1400 professionals, and viewed by some as a model for community-based, bipartisan solutions to the epidemic problem of prescription drug abuse and its consequences.
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia spoke at the Summit, telling attendees that his state has the highest overdose mortality rate of 29 per 100,000. He cited prescription drugs as the cause of 90 percent of the overdoses, pointing out that they are the drugs in the medicine cabinet in homes.
The introduction of two pieces of legislation focused on educating the public, putting in more controls, and assisting victims was announced by Manchin. He cited lack of information for both the public and for medical professionals alike as having led to unnecessary hardship.
The proposed legislation includes the Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, and the FDA Accountability for Public Safety Act—designed to curtail the continuing increase in drug potencies. Manchin noted that the prescription drugs are so powerful that “two pills can kill a human being”; questioning why those would be put on the market– and in forms that can be altered and used for illegal purposes.
The FDA Accountability for Public Safety Act is focused on ensuring precautions are in place prior to the approval of a new opioid drug. It would require that an advisory committee review and recommend that drug before FDA approval is granted.
It would require the he FDA Commissioner to make a final decision on drug approval in the event the Advisory Committee doesn’t approve it due to consumer health and safety concerns.
In brief, it would obligate the FDA to submit a report citing scientific and medical evidence regarding patient safety—and why the Advisory Committee’s recommendation to relevant Committees was ignored.
In part, it would require the FDA Commissioner to testify before Congress regarding why the FDA ignored its own Advisory Committee. And distribution of the drug-in-question would be prohibited until which time the FDA report was submitted to Congress.
Accountability is the bottom line. Continuing to unleash highly addictive narcotic opioids upon a nation already mired deeply in battle with prescription drug abuse and addiction is unconscionable.
Kudos to Manchin for recognizing the real source of the prescription drug abuse problem, and for stepping forward with a plan of action.
