File #: 18-3444    Version: 1 Name: URGING THE STATE OF ILLINOIS TO ENACT OPIOID PRESCRIPTION LIMITS
Type: Resolution Status: Approved
File created: 4/24/2018 In control: Health & Hospitals Committee
On agenda: 4/25/2018 Final action: 5/16/2018
Title: PROPOSED RESOLUTION URGING THE STATE OF ILLINOIS TO ENACT OPIOID PRESCRIPTION LIMITS WHEREAS, the opioid epidemic in our country has risen to extreme levels, causing the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans, and billions of dollars in economic costs; and WHEREAS, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in 2016 116 people died every day from opioid-related drug overdoses; and WHEREAS, 42,249 people died from overdosing on opioids in that year alone; and WHEREAS, of those deaths, 17,087 were the result of overdosing on commonly prescribed opioids; and WHEREAS, the cost of these drugs totaled $504 billion in 2016; and WHEREAS, most recently, the state of Florida passed a bill to combat this crisis by instituting prescription limits on opioids and increasing funding for treatment; and WHEREAS, Florida will be the 25th state since 2016 that has passed legislation that imposes some limits or guidelines on opioid prescriptions, and only the 3rd to create st...
Sponsors: TIMOTHY O. SCHNEIDER, LUIS ARROYO JR, RICHARD R. BOYKIN, JOHN P. DALEY, DENNIS DEER, JOHN A. FRITCHEY, BRIDGET GAINER, JESÚS G. GARCÍA, GREGG GOSLIN, STANLEY MOORE, SEAN M. MORRISON, PETER N. SILVESTRI, DEBORAH SIMS, LARRY SUFFREDIN, JEFFREY R. TOBOLSKI
title
PROPOSED RESOLUTION

URGING THE STATE OF ILLINOIS TO ENACT OPIOID PRESCRIPTION LIMITS

WHEREAS, the opioid epidemic in our country has risen to extreme levels, causing the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans, and billions of dollars in economic costs; and

WHEREAS, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in 2016 116 people died every day from opioid-related drug overdoses; and

WHEREAS, 42,249 people died from overdosing on opioids in that year alone; and

WHEREAS, of those deaths, 17,087 were the result of overdosing on commonly prescribed opioids; and

WHEREAS, the cost of these drugs totaled $504 billion in 2016; and

WHEREAS, most recently, the state of Florida passed a bill to combat this crisis by instituting prescription limits on opioids and increasing funding for treatment; and

WHEREAS, Florida will be the 25th state since 2016 that has passed legislation that imposes some limits or guidelines on opioid prescriptions, and only the 3rd to create statutory limits of three or four days for Schedule II painkillers like OxyContin and Fentanyl; and

WHEREAS, Illinois is not one of the states with any of these imposed limits, and as a result the opioid epidemic remains relatively unchecked; and

WHEREAS, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) now supports policies limiting the supply of opioids for acute pain treatment; and

WHEREAS, PhRMA has concluded that too often, individuals receive a 30-day supply of opioid medicines for minor treatments or short-term pain, and that overprescribing and dispensing can lead to patients taking opioids longer than necessary or to excess pills falling into the wrong hands; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the members of this board, as public servants to the residents of Cook County, urge the Illinois General assembly to pass comprehensive legislation to limit prescriptions to these opioids to five days in order to combat the crisis currently affecting our commu...

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