{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://walden.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/case-you-missed-it-greg-walden-focuses-combating-opioid-abuse-bend", "In Case You Missed It: Greg Walden focuses on combating opioid abuse in Bend, Medford, Hermiston", "2016-05-06", "2016", "2016-05", "Republican", "House", "OR", "Greg Walden", "W000791", "walden.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "In Case You Missed It: Greg Walden focuses on combating opioid abuse in Bend, Medford, Hermiston \nThis week, U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River) met with physicians, first responders, members of the law enforcement community, and families impacted by drug addiction from around the state. The topic of discussion: combating the growing opioid epidemic in Oregon.\nAt three roundtable events in Bend, Medford, and Hermiston, Walden heard firsthand from the people on the ground about which policies are working, and which are not, in the fight to improve treatment and recovery programs for addicts, and prevent more tragic deaths due to drug overdose. In the coming weeks, the House will vote on over a dozen bipartisan bills to help fix this problem. Click here for more information on the House's efforts to tackle the opioid epidemic head on.\nIn case you missed it, here's a roundup of local coverage of the events:\nEast Oregonian: Opioid addiction key theme of Walden's Oregon tour\nWalden met Tuesday with health care providers, pharmacists, hospital administrators, law enforcement and others at Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston for an opioid roundtable I don't think the general public knows how bad this is,' he said. I think my colleagues didn't know until we started to get into it.'\nBend Bulletin: Walden discusses opioid crisis ahead of big votes \nThe U.S. House of Representatives is due to vote next week on no fewer than a dozen bills dealing with opioid drug abuse, but after a visit to Bend on Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River, knows there's still more work to do. Walden participated in a round-table discussion at St. Charles Bend that included doctors, nurses, mental health and addiction professionals. The limits of treating patients for chronic pain and addiction under Medicare was a recurring theme.\nWalden said that, in general, he's looking to create a national response that builds on the best state policies.\nKDRV Medford: Walden Meets With Local Leaders To Address Opioid Epidemic\nKOBI Medford: Congressman discusses opioid abuse in Medford \nKTVL Medford: Rep. Walden plans to take action against opioid abuse in Oregon\nKTVZ Bend: Opioid roundtable bring state and federal leaders to C.O.\nMy Columbia Basin: Walden addresses opioid abuse \nU.S. Rep. Greg Walden took part in a round-table discussion on opioid abuse at Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston Tuesday. He says the problem is bigger than many people thought, both nationally and right here at home.\n'Most of us didn't know it was this big and bad,' he said. You now have more people overdosing and dying from opioidsthan being killed in traffic accidents. Oregon is like number two in the country with this set of problems.'\nWalden said work is being done at both the federal and state levels, and then said that Eastern and Southern Oregon are also mounting ambitious programs to tackle the issue.\n'Those programs offer some common sense changes in the practice of medicine, the availability of opioids and the recapture of them,' he said.", 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://walden.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/case-you-missed-it-greg-walden-focuses-combating-opioid-abuse-bend"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6840188764035702, "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"}