“Our state and our entire nation have truly reached a crisis point, and ignoring the problem is simply unacceptable. We have a responsibility – especially to our children – to stop the scourge of prescription drug abuse. We must go after this problem from every angle – family assistance, counseling programs, consumer and medical education, law enforcement support, state and federal legislation – everything.  I have made a promise to the people of West Virginia and to the American people that I will do everything I can to beat this epidemic, save hundreds of thousands of lives, and help those recovering return to the lives they once enjoyed, drug-free.”

 ~ Senator Manchin

Prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the United States, and it is claiming the lives of thousands of Americans every year. In 2013, 16,000 people died from prescription opioid overdose, and in West Virginia, which ranks number one in drug overdose deaths in the nation, the rates of abuse and overdose are even worse. As Governor and U.S. Senator, Senator Manchin has been a national leader in the fight to curb the horrific epidemic that continues to devastate our state and our nation.

Senator Manchin’s first major legislative victory was the reclassification of hydrocodone-combination drugs from Schedule III to Schedule II. After years of urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to implement this change, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officially announced the final rule in August 2014. This was imperative because in 2013, hydrocodone was the most frequently prescribed opioid in the United States with 136 million prescriptions written. To review Senator Manchin’s efforts to reschedule hydrocodone in detail, please click here.

Senator Manchin continues to fight the growing epidemic through every avenue available to him. He has confronted the FDA and pharmaceutical companies on practices that have contributed to the rise in misuse and abuse, and he has introduced and cosponsored commonsense legislation in the Senate.

• 114th Congress: Senator Manchin introduced the LifeBOAT Act to establish a funding stream to fund efforts to provide and expand access to substance abuse treatment through the existing Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant. 
• 114th Congress: Senator Manchin introduced Jessie's Law in honor of Jessica Grubb to save lives by ensuring that when individuals and their families are open about a person’s past addiction, physicians and nurses will have access to the information that they need to provide medically appropriate care. 
• 114th Congress: Senator Manchin introduced the Promoting Responsible Opioid Prescribing Act to decouple hospital and physician payments from questions on the patient safisfaction survey related pain management to ensure physicians don't feel undue financial pressues to prescribe opioids when not medically necessary. 
• 114th Congress: Senator Mancin introduced amendments to the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act to expand funding for drug abuse prevention and recovery efforts. 
• 114th Congress: Senator Manchin introduced the The Changing the Culture of the FDA Act to amend the FDA's mission statement to include the agency's responsibility for the addressing public health impact of the opioid epidemic. 
• 114th Congress: Senator Manchin introduced the FDA Accountability for Public Safety Act to hold the FDA accountable for approving dangerous and highly addictive opioid drugs.
• 114th Congress: Senator Manchin introduced the Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to improve efforts to prevent and treat prescription drug abuse.
• 114th Congress: Senator Manchin cosponsored the Jason Simcakoski Memorial Opioid Safety Act to address overprescribing practices and provide safer and more effective pain management services to our nation’s veterans.
• 113th Congress: Senator Manchin introduced the Act to Ban Zohydro to withdraw the approval of Zohydro ER, a powerful and highly addictive opioid drug that the FDA approved over the objection of its own Advisory Committee.
• 113th Congress: Senator Manchin introduced the Safe Prescribing Act to reclassify hydrocodone painkillers from Schedule III to Schedule II. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officially announced the reclassification in August 2014.

In an effort to further raise awareness and show that the U.S. Senate is serious about helping the millions of American families whose lives have been torn apart by prescription drug abuse, Senator Manchin has launched the Prescription Drug Abuse Caucus with Senator Tim Scott from South Carolina. The members will work together and with stakeholders toward innovative and effective policy solutions that address prevention, treatment, and more to help every community overcome this devastating problem.

Senator Manchin has also taken several important steps to address the rise of methamphetamine production, abuse, overdoses and deaths.  After being urged by Senator Manchin, CVS, Walgreens, Kmart and Rite-Aid stores in West Virginia stopped selling single-ingredient, non-tamper resistant pseudoephedrine that is used to make illegal methamphetamine. He also sent individual letters to members of the West Virginia Legislature encouraging the body to pass legislation implementing the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy’s recommendations to reschedule pseudoephedrine products. In addition, Senator Manchin introduced amendments, which were included in the final FY2016 Congressional Budget, to encourage Congress to invest in efforts to combat meth abuse.

To review a complete timeline of Senator Manchin’s efforts to curb drug abuse, please click here.

To review a fact sheet on the prescription drug abuse epidemic in West Virginia and the U.S., please click here.