U.S. Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR) and Michael Burgess (R-TX) joined other members of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee to request a briefing from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on its management of the nation’s opioid supply.

“This request is in support of a reactivated investigation from committee Republicans, started by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on August 2, 2018, that examined potential breakdowns in the controlled substances supply chain, which may have contributed to the nation’s opioid epidemic, and the role of certain opioid manufacturers in such potential breakdowns,” the lawmakers wrote in an Oct. 23 letter sent to DEA Acting Administrator Timothy Shea. 

Rep. Walden is ranking member of the Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee while Rep. Burgess is ranking member of the E&C Health Subcommittee. They were joined in signing the letter by E&C Committee members U.S. Reps. Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Morgan Griffith (R-VA).

“Each calendar year, the DEA sets the aggregate production quota (APQ) of controlled substances, including opioids, to ensure that patients have the medicines they need while also reducing excess production of controlled prescription drugs that can be diverted and misused,” wrote the lawmakers, noting that the DEA’s 2019 Drug Threat Assessment report raises questions about how DEA manages the APQ for opioids.

The E&C Committee members asked the DEA about the justification of quotas, including why the agency set quotas that were twice the amount of sales the year before, according to their letter, which pointed to the report’s data showing that over the 2016, 2017, and 2018 periods, the DEA approved a combined total quota of about 800 million grams of opioids, and drug companies manufactured about 560 million grams of drug and sold, through retail purchases, about 235 million grams. 

“This would indicate that during this three-year period, drug companies over-manufactured 325 million grams of drug, and had about 235 million grams of finished product in inventory, more than they sold in any year,” wrote Reps. Walden, Burgess, and their colleagues.