Congress passed legislation to address the national public health issue of prescription drug abuse. The new law, the Comprehensive Addictions and Recovery Act (CARA), is an example of a balanced policy that not only addresses opioid addiction, but also includes provisions to help us better understand and treat chronic pain.

ACS CAN and the Alliance to Prevent the Abuse of Medicines joined together on Capitol Hill to address the critical need to preserve patient access to pain medications as policymakers work to adopt legislation to curb opioid abuse.