Health Care
Information regarding my stance on Health Care issues.
Across the country and here in Northwest Oregon, communities are experiencing the tragic and often deadly emergency of opioid abuse. During the past few months, I have met with parents, health care professionals, community leaders, veterans, and people from all walks of life who have shared heart-wrenching stories about how the opioid crisis is taking lives and inflicting pain on Oregon families. I've convened community discussions in each of the five counties I represent to hear from local experts and families in the throes of addiction. Their stories are heartbreaking.
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici has added her own proposal to actions she says are needed for the nation to deal with opioid abuse.
Bonamici, a Democrat from Beaverton, has released her priorities based on numerous meetings and visits she has made during the past several months in northwest Oregon.
Among them were roundtables in each of the five counties in the 1st District — including Jan. 25 in Beaverton — a meeting Feb. 20 with educators in Beaverton, and visits to Tualatin Together, Lifeworks Northwest in Beaverton, and the pharmacy at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.
BEAVERTON, OR – Today Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) released a new report about priorities she has identified for addressing the opioid crisis. Bonamici also announced new legislation, The Safe Disposal of Opioids Act (HR 5557), to make it easier to dispose of unused medications. The bill will create a grant program to help pharmacies and other qualified locations install and maintain drug disposal bins.
BEAVERTON, Ore. – Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici was in Beaverton to present her new legislation to create more disposal bins for unused prescription medication.
The Congresswoman has spent the last six months visiting with constituents, law enforcement officials, addicts in recovery, and many others to understand the scope of the opioid crisis here in Oregon. She has been looking for something that can be done now, and something that would hold the drug manufacturers accountable.
During six months of community discussions about the opioid crisis, U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici heard a recurring theme — the lack of options for someone to safely dispose of excess prescription pain pills after a surgery or illness.
Less than 5 percent of pharmacies, hospitals and other eligible sites in Oregon participate in drug disposal program, according to Bonamici, citing a Government Accountability Office study. Unused pills can be diverted to other family members or friends and misued.
Guns and safety headlined a town hall Thursday with U.S. Rep Suzanne Bonamici at Astoria High School.
A small crowd turned out for the discussion, the congresswoman's sixth this month during a spring tour of her district in Northwest Oregon. She started out thanking Astoria sophomores Isabel Talley and Kegan Rascoe, who handed her a stack of 78 signed form letters from students and staff calling for more federal funding to improve school safety.
