Did Whitehouse Enable the US Opioid Addiction Epidemic?
Providence: State Representative Bobby Nardolillo, a GOP Candidate for the US Senate in 2018, reacted today to press reports that incumbent Senator Sheldon Whitehouse bears some legislative responsibility for the explosive growth of non-prescription opioid use in America. A recent investigation by 60 Minutes and The Washington Post was released Sunday which Focused on 2016 Federal Legislation sponsored by the Rhode Island Democrat. The Post termed the legislation «The Drug Industry’s Triumph over the DEA.»
«From the moment the 60 Minutes report aired.» Bobby Nardolillo explained. «I’ve been hearing from constituents urging me to hold Mr. Whitehouse accountable for tying the hands of federal drug enforcement in their efforts to prevent excess distribution. The problem stems from the difference between industry figures for production and distribution of addictive painkillers and the much smaller numbers of total prescriptions ordered for them. The 2016 Bill, co-sponsored by Whitehouse, effectively denied the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) the tools they’d previously used to interdict excessive shipments of these often abused pharmaceuticals. According to DEA Agent and Whistleblower Joe Rannazzisi the legislation resulted from extreme lobbying pressure brought to bear on Whitehouse and others to curb enforcement.
Nardolillo responded to these allegations grimly. «If what Mr. Rannazzisi says is true, it appears Mr. Whitehouse ignored his responsibility to the citizens who elected him in favor of the powerful lobbyists who have his ear in Washington, D.C.» Should that assumption prove correct, the result is the needless continued suffering of the addicted and their loved ones. «Crafting legislation to regulate the matching of deliveries to prescription orders could have been done.» Nardolillo concluded. «But in this case that seems not to have been the actual goal.»
«The takeaway for voters is the example of one of their elected officials working against them, not for them.» Nardolillo said in a prepared statement.
Bobby Nardolillo is a working Rhode Islander, born and bred, who is taking time out to run for the US Senate because of his conviction that government at all levels has failed its taxpaying constituents. He intends to build on his two terms in the General Assembly to bring both legislative experience and new blood to Washington, DC. Follow his campaign on the web at www.bobby4senate.com, or on Facebook at ‘Bobby 4 Senate 2018.’