HARRISBURG, Pa. -- State lawmakers are taking action to fight the heroin epidemic plaguing Pennsylvania. More than a dozen gathered at the Pennsylvania State Capitol Tuesday to announce a package of bills they are introducing to cut down on Opioid abuse.
"This is an epidemic that we have to deal with. This is the number one public health crisis in our state. We really to address it at every level," said Rep. Doyle Heffley (R-Carbon County)
The bills unveiled include:
- Including addiction education as part of the curriculum in medical education
- Regulating the prescribing of controlled substances in hospital emergency departments
- Parity of insurance coverage for abuse deterrent formulations of medications
- The safe disposal of unused drugs from hospice care
- Drug Take Back expansion and fix a DEP problem for the destruction of unused medications
- Resolution studying the enforcement of existing drug treatment laws
The pieces of legislation come from recommendations from the Opioid Task Force, which was formed by the Joint State Government Commission. CLICK HERE to see a copy of the report.