Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) welcomed today’s announcement by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it would begin requiring warnings for medications that contain opioids. The outcome of this policy change mirrors legislation Kuster introduced earlier this year, known as Carl’s Law, which would require opioid medication to include a warning label if the drug contains opiates that could cause drug-seeking behavior. The FDA announcement addresses the potentially deadly risk of combining medications containing opioids with other types of drugs. In the coming weeks, Kuster will push for the risk of “drug seeking behavior” to be included in the consideration of labels.

Kuster’s legislation was introduced on behalf of Carl Messinger, a Granite Stater who died of a fentanyl overdose after he relapsed when he was prescribed an opiate medication while in recovery by a physician unaware of his history of addition. If Carl’s medication had featured a warning label, his relapse and death could have been prevented.

“Today’s announcement by the FDA is welcome news and will help ensure that those in recovery are not unintentionally exposed to an opioid that could cause a relapse,” said Congresswoman Kuster. “I’ve been vocal about the need for labeling of medications containing opioids since I learned of the tragic passing of Carl Messinger, a young man from Holderness in recovery whose life was cut short after he was prescribed a cough medicine that – unbeknownst to him – contained opiates. This is a commonsense reform that will prevent similar tragedies from taking place in the future.”

In its announcement of the policy the FDA said, “Today’s actions are one of a number of steps the FDA is taking as part of the agency’s Opioids Action Plan, which focuses on policies aimed at reversing the prescription opioid abuse epidemic, while still providing patients in pain access to effective and appropriate pain management.”

Kuster has helped lead the fight to address the heroin and opioid crisis at the federal level and in New Hampshire, and she has been an outspoken advocate for the need to support medical, law enforcement, treatment, and recovery efforts. As the cofounder and co-chair of the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic, she was instrumental in the fight to pass 18 bills in the House to address the opioid crisis, and in recognition of her leadership on this issue Kuster was recently appointed to the conference committee tasked with producing the final version of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), which will combine these 18 House bills with a Senate counterpart.

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