releases: https://web.archive.org/web/20140221012000/http://farenthold.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364410
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221012000/http://farenthold.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364410 | U.S. Congressmen Matt Cartwright and Blake Farenthold Introduce Bipartisan Servicemembers and Veterans Prescription Drug Safety Act of 2013 | 2013-12-13 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | TX | Blake Farenthold | F000460 | web.archive.org | legacy | Yesterday, U.S. Congressmen Matt Cartwright (D-PA-17) and Blake Farenthold (R-TX-27) introduced the bipartisan Servicemembers and Veterans Prescription Drug Safety Act of 2013, which aims to decrease accidental drug overdoses among servicemembers and veterans by implementing prescription drug take-back programs. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) prescription rate for opioids has risen by 287 percent between 1999 and 2012. Consequently, VA-enrolled veterans have an accidental drug overdose rate double that of the civilian population. There is substantial evidence that prescription drug abuse is a major contributing factor in the deaths of numerous servicemembers and veterans. Drug take-back programs have been found to substantially decrease accidental overdose. At present, only the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) can authorize entities to collect and properly dispose of prescription drugs from ultimate users. Neither the DoD nor VA is permitted to conduct prescription drug take-back programs at their pharmacies. Thus, a service member or veteran is unable to return unused medications to the DoD or VA facility that prescribed the medications in the first place. “I am proud to work with Rep. Farenthold on this potentially life-saving legislation. The suicide rate amongst our nation’s veterans is alarming and completely unacceptable. We have a responsibility to ensure that our military, veterans, and their families are safe from prescription drug abuse and accidental overdose,” said Representative Cartwright. “By providing service members access to drug take-back programs, we can protect them and save lives.” “Our veterans and military personnel currently have no means to properly dispose of unused prescription medications,” said Representative Farenthold. “That’s a contributing factor to the rise in accidental overdoses, and it must be dealt with to save lives. Drug take-back programs have shown to be an effective solution to this problem, and our legislation simply extends the reach of those programs to the DoD and VA.” ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |