Kirk-Authored Language to Protect Veterans Included in CARA Conference Report
Language Requires VA Participation in Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs
Holds VA Facilities to the Same Standards as Private Hospitals and Clinics
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) applauded the inclusion of Kirk-authored language that requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to participate in Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) in the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (CARA) conference report. This language would require the VA to disclose prescribing information to state controlled PDMPs in order to prevent the over-prescription and abuse of opioids amongst our nation’s veterans. Senator Kirk has not only sponsored legislation (S. 2601) to address this important need, but also offered his bill as an amendment during Senate consideration of S. 524, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA).
“Candymen like Danville’s Dr. John Sturman have gone unchecked by the VA for too long,” said Senator Kirk. “Veterans deserve the best care including oversight of their doctors to prevent overprescribing. VA doctors should operate under the same standards as private physicians and disclose prescription information to ensure the safety and protection of our veterans.”
After learning that Dr. John K. Sturman was hired to work at the VA Illiana Health Care System’s pain management clinic in Danville, Illinois, while he was under investigation for allegedly over-prescribing narcotics that killed three patients in Indiana, Senator Kirk demanded answers from the VA about their hiring practices and the actions being taken to ensure Illinois veterans weren’t being overprescribed dangerous painkillers.
Between 2001 and 2009, pain reliever prescriptions nationwide quadrupled to nearly 3.8 million, and studies show that almost half of veterans who served in Operation Enduring Freedom and/or Operation Iraqi Freedom, and entered Veterans Affairs (VA) health care from 2005 through 2008, received at least one pain-related diagnosis. State PDMPs collect information from doctors and pharmacists on controlled substances dispensed in the state to identify abuse and diversion and facilitate treatments for addicts. In Illinois, the state PDMP receives daily reports of Schedule II, III, IV, and V drugs like hydrocodone and adderall dispensed from retail pharmacies. Under current law, which allows but does not require VA facilities to report prescription and usage to PDMPs, Illinois veterans would have to wait six months for VA to fully employ this life-saving program.
This legislation will hold VA doctors and hospitals to the same standard as doctors at private sector hospitals and clinics. The conference report is expected to go before the full Senate this summer.
