United States

House Passes Massive Package to Address Opioid Crisis

The package would require medical records list a patient's addiction history

The House of Representatives on Friday passed the largest legislative package on opioids in recent history, NBC News reported.

The package, made up of 58 bills, would direct federal agencies to prioritize training, support recovery centers and conduct research to help combat the growing epidemic, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says killed 42,000 people in 2016.

Among the provisions: requiring medical records list a patient's addiction history, change how prescription pills are distributed and direct the National Institutes of Health to develop non-addictive painkillers.

The package passed 396-14 after months of debate and now heads to the Senate.

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