{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://tsongas.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=1655", "Tsongas leads letter to FDA urging reconsideration of decision on OxyContin use by children", "2015-12-22", "2015", "2015-12", "Democrat", "House", "MA", "Niki Tsongas", "T000465", "tsongas.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON  Congresswoman Niki Tsongas (MA-3) led a bipartisan group of House Members in sending a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the use of OxyContin by children as young as 11 years old. The letter urges the FDA to reconsider its decision to approve OxyContin for use by children and instead allow an Advisory Committee to gather public input and expert testimony before making an official recommendation. The letter was signed by 14 other Members of Congress,including Massachusetts Representatives Michael Capuano, Stephen Lynch, Kathrine Clark and Seth Moulton. The text of the letter is included below: Dear Acting Commissioner Ostroff: We write to express our concerns regarding the Food and Drug Administrations decision to approve the opioid prescription painkiller OxyContin for use by children as young as 11 years old. Our country is suffering from a serious epidemic of opioid addiction and abuse. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 44 people die every day as a result of a prescription opioid overdose in the United States. We understand that FDAs goal was to give doctors better guidelines on how to use OxyContin safely in pediatric patients. However, we believe that the flawed methodology used to arrive at this decision, as well as FDAs actual guidance, may actually encourage the expanded use of opioids among a population who are at an even greater risk of addiction. As other federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control, Department of Health and Human Services, Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration work to combat this growing epidemic, we find it startling that FDA took this action without the benefit of review and input from an Advisory Committee. And, most egregiously, that FDA relied solely on an evaluation conducted by the pharmaceutical company who stands to benefit from the sale of this drug; a private company that only a few years ago pleaded guilty to falsely marketing the drug in a way that played down its addictive properties. We strongly urge you to reconsider the decision to approve OxyContin for use by children and instead allow an Advisory Committee to gather public input and expert testimony before making an official recommendation. \r\n\r\n\t####", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://tsongas.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=1655"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.663335133343935, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}