Dem senators: HHS needs to address heroin epidemic

A group of senators wrote Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell urging her to coordinate with Congress in the fight against opioid abuse.

Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) led the letter. The senators said the administration should increase its budget to address the issue of heroin overdoses.

{mosads}“Too many Americans have been lost to opioid overdose,” the letter stated.

The senators said HHS should expand access to overdose prevention drugs, such as naloxone, because it will reduce deaths. They said a comprehensive plan would include increasing funds for state and local law enforcement to purchase the overdose prevention drug.

“Despite the life-saving capabilities of naloxone, its use in overdose prevention is not widespread,” the senators wrote. “We know that expanding naloxone access to a broader population can reverse drug overdoses and save lives, particularly when accompanied by education and training in overdose prevention and naloxone use.”