The state Senate on Tuesday, April 9 passed a bill to impose an impact fee on the sale of opioids. Money collected from the fee would support treatment for those suffering from substance abuse.
The measure, which was approved 17-4, will now go the House. The surcharge would be assessed per milligram morphine equivalent (MME).
“For too long, these companies have reaped record profits while avoiding responsibility for the pain and suffering their products have caused,” said primary sponsor Sen. Hansen, D-Middletown. “With this bill, we will begin holding these companies accountable by forcing them to direct some of that revenue toward breaking the cycle of abuse, addiction and death.”
Republican opponents of the bill say the surcharge will barely put a dent in the problem, and in the meantime pass the additional costs down to patients.
