Long-time Advocate in the Opioid Crisis, Rep. Mike Turner Releases Statement on Biden Administration Decision to Expand Access to Buprenorphine

I released a statement following news that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will release new practice guidelines that scale back the “X-waiver” to allow practitioners to more easily prescribe a proven opioid addiction treatment, buprenorphine. 

After asking President Biden to change his misguided policy, I’m grateful that the President has agreed to expand access to a proven opioid addiction treatment. Eliminating barriers for practitioners to prescribe buprenorphine is a major win in the battle against the opioid crisis. This decision delivers hope to countless Americans struggling to overcome addiction during a time when opioid deaths continue to skyrocket. I’m thankful for the efforts of my bipartisan allies in Congress and those fighting the opioid crisis who have joined me in leading the charge to successfully change this policy.

In February, I led a letter with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to President Biden asking him to eliminate bureaucratic barriers in the way of practitioners’ prescribing buprenorphine.  

Congressman Paul Tonko (NY-20) and I also introduced the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act (MAT) to eliminate the “X-waiver.”