If FDA won’t combat opioid crisis, this Republican and this Democrat will

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Jessica Grubb of Charleston, West Virginia was 30 when she died unexpectedly. Lauren Cole of Morgantown, West Virginia was only 26 when she died unexpectedly. These tragic deaths and thousands more across West Virginia, Indiana and the United States have one thing in common – they died from opioid related overdoses, leaving their families, friends, and communities reeling. Unfortunately, their circumstances are not unique.

Approximately 200 Americans die every day from an opioid related overdose. In the last year, more than 106,000 Americans, including more than 1,400 West Virginians and 2,750 Hoosiers, died from overdoses related to opioids and synthetic opioids. That’s more than 106,000 fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, and cousins who leave behind devastated families and loved ones.

This is a devastating and unacceptable number – the highest ever recorded in a single year.

The start of this epidemic can be traced back 28 years ago with the broad approval of OxyContin. In the years since, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has done very little to learn from their mistakes and change how they approve and manage highly addictive and deadly drugs. Instead of reining in prescriptions opioids, they

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