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Nolan amendment to include military representation on pain management task force passes

U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan hailed passage of his amendment to H.R. 4641 on Wednesday, which adds a representative charged with ensuring the interests of active duty soldiers and military veterans are taken into account on a new interagency pain managem...

U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan hailed passage of his amendment to H.R. 4641 on Wednesday, which adds a representative charged with ensuring the interests of active duty soldiers and military veterans are taken into account on a new interagency pain management task force, a release from Nolan's office said.

The task force will bring together numerous agencies, professions, specialties, experts and perspectives to review best practices for pain management and prescribing pain medication-a key issue in the face of the current opioid epidemic in the United States. The original bill did not include an expert on active duty military, armed forces personnel, and veteran health prescription opioid addiction until passage of the Nolan amendment, the release said.

Half of all troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer chronic pain. As a result, half a million military veterans are now prescribed opioid medications-an increase of nearly 80 percent in little more than a decade. The American Public Health Association reports that the overdose rate among VA patients is twice the national average.

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