Obama signs industry-backed drug abuse, access bill

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Tuesday signed into law recently passed legislation aimed at curbing prescription drug abuse while ensuring patients legitimate access to their medication. The Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act of 2016 seeks to increase collaboration between health and enforcement bodies on drug abuse solutions. 

 

Steve Anderson, president and CEO of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), which advocated for the bill, spoke positively of the bill’s enactment. 

 

“This new law is one part of the culture change that needs to occur to make possible a nuanced approach to this complex issue,” Anderson saidWe appreciate the President’s signing this bill into law today. We thank for their leadership in the Congress … and we thank those in the patient advocacy community, the enforcement community, and other allies in healthcare for making possible this important step toward consensus.”

 

The bill, NACDS said, fits public opinion, which it gauged last year in a survey that saw 8-in-10 respondents saying that pharmacists have a dual role in battling prescription drug abuse — working with law enforcement to curb abuse while maintaining their responsibility to patients by making sure they have access to the medication they legitimately need. 

 

HDMA, which has also supported the bill, also praised the president’s actions on Tuesday. 

 

“Today’s enactment is a victory for not only supply chain stakeholders and regulators, who share a common goal in mitigating the scourge of prescription drug abuse in this country, but the many individuals who rely on life-enhancing pain medicines every day,” HDMA president and CEO John Gray said. “The changes brought forth through this law strike the appropriate balance of further protecting the supply chain against drug diversion while allowing continuing patient access to critical medicines — and it does so in a way that promotes collaboration between the healthcare supply chain and those who regulate it.”