Washington, D.C. — Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, released the following statement after the acceptance of his NASPER Funding Amendment to H.R. 3354.

“Last night I offered an amendment to provide funding to the National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting (NASPER) program. NASPER supports the utilization of prescription drug monitoring programs, which help coordinate prescribing practices between providers and pharmacists, so that prescription opioids can remain solely in the hands of the intended patient. Up until this point, NASPER has not been funded by Appropriators, and as a result, our country has been unable to utilize this life-saving tool. Congress must prioritize programs like NASPER that are preventive and can ensure that errant prescribers and bad actors do not fall through the cracks. If we want to end this epidemic, we must finally commit resources to programs that will promote prevention and encourage safer prescribing of prescription drugs.”