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# Sen. Manchin Introduces FDA Opioid Action Bill
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/sen-manchin-introduces-fda-opioid-action-bill/
- Published: 2016-02-12T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-15T02:35:24.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5134749

> Sen. **Joe Manchin** (D-WV) has introduced the “Changing the Culture of the FDA Act,” a bill that would expand the agency’s mission statement to require it to address the nation’s opioid epidemic. Manchin says that FDA plays a critical role in the growing opioid epidemic through its approval of dangerously addictive drugs. “However, to date, the agency has failed to consider the devastating public health impact of its repeated decisions to approve opioid medications,” he says in a [release.](http://www.manchin.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=2EF2EC34-DBD5-4D41-BE1D-CDEF653F8CA9&ref=fdaweb.com)  
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> Specifically, the measure would add the following language to the agency’s mission statement: “The FDA is also responsible for protecting the public health by strongly considering the danger of addiction and overdose death associated with prescription opioid medications when approving these medications and when regulating the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of opioid medications.”  
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> Manchin acknowledges FDA’s recent announcement on an [opioid action plan](https://www.fdaweb.com/fda-outlines-action-plan-on-opioid-abuse/), but he says it’s not enough and more needs to be done. “This bill is an important step that must be taken to hold the FDA accountable for the impact its decisions are having on the American people.”  
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> West Virginia has been hit the hardest in the nation by the opioid epidemic, he says. Drug overdose deaths have soared by more than 700% between 1999 and 2013.