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| Bono-Mack (R) is a congresswoman who represents the 45th Congressional District. Courtesy of pe.com |
Be that as it may, she does a tremendous amount of work to get people who abuse prescription drugs help. I discovered that when I read an article about Mary Bono Mack's fight to help those who are addicted to prescription drugs.
I know her pain. I have had the same issues in my own family that are closely connected to the controversy this issue has become . Tomorrow, would have been my brother's birthday (Dr. Norman Bamberg), but his life was given up. During the most recent part of his thirty-year medical doctor career he was a pain doctor.
Much has been written about the association of pain doctors and the prescriptions they write. Bono-Mack's solution doesn't deal with a throw-everybody-in-jail approach. Instead, she seeks to enact laws that make drug companies responsible for the pain relief drugs that they make.
Recently, she advocated for making it very difficult to physically change pain pills so it can they used for other purposes--mainly to get high. That certainly would help legitimize the business of pain medicine. To be sure, many people have pain that deteriorates their quality of life.
I had written Bono-Mack last May when my brother died. I was very specific about what happened, and felt a little strange telling her about it. Today, she responded with the following:
Thank
you for your personal story regarding the abuse of prescription drugs. It is good to hear from you, and
I appreciate your patience while awaiting a response.
As
your Representative, I have been leading the fight in Congress against the fastest rising drug problem
in America – the abuse of prescription drugs. According to the Centers for Disease Control, drug
overdoses, including those from prescription drugs, are now the leading cause of preventable deaths in
the United States. It is clear that Congress needs to take steps to address this critical problem that
has devastated families all across America.
In
an effort to raise awareness about this important issue, I serve as the co-chair of the Prescription
Drug Abuse Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. In addition, I have introduced the Stop
Oxy Abuse Act of 2011, (H.R. 1316). I introduced this legislation
to help stop the rising abuse and addiction of prescription drugs containing controlled-release oxycodone
hydrochloride, included in the popular pain killer OxyContin.
Over-prescription and drug diversion can have devastating effects on families and communities across
the country, too often leading to addiction, criminal activity, and even
death. Far too many young people are falling prey to the highly dangerous and addictive drug, OxyContin.
I
also introduced the Ryan Creedon
Act of 2011, (H.R. 2119) which would put in place new measures
to ensure that prescribers of powerful pain medications receive a minimum standard of education before
issuing the drugs. No such national standard currently exists.
It
is important that the citizens of our district keep me apprised of their views so that I may better represent
you in Washington. Rest assured,
I will keep your views in mind when this issue comes before the U.S. House of Representatives.
Again,
thank you for taking the time to write. For your convenience, you can sign up to receive regular email
updates from me on issues important to our district at www.bonomack.house.gov/emailsignup.
Please feel free to contact me on other matters of mutual concern.
Sincerely,
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