Governors Ask Congress for New Opiate-Addiction Fighting Tools

The governors of every New England state sent a letter to Congress urging members to pass a law that would allow more medical professionals to prescribe opiate addiction medication such as buprenorphine.

Specifically they ask that nurse practitioners and physician assistants be allowed to prescribe the medication. Nurse practitioners can already prescribe narcotics for pain, but ironically can’t prescribe medication that is used to treat narcotic addiction.

“It is imperative that we remove the barriers to treatment,” the six governors wrote. “The health of our families, our communities and our economy rests no our ability to ensure men, women and children who are addicted to drugs have every opportunity to turn their lives around.”

The letter is signed by Governor Malloy, Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont, Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Governor Paul LePage of Maine, Governor Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, and Governor Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island. It has been delivered to House and Senate leaders, in addition to the leadership of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Governor Malloy serves as Chairman of the Coalition of Northeastern Governors, which helped facilitate this letter among its members.

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