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Wolf to address legislature on opioid crisis

HARRISBURG - The opioid epidemic that has claimed lives across Pennsylvania and the nation will get its highest-profile focus at the Capitol this week, when Gov. Wolf addresses a joint session of the General Assembly about what can be done.

HARRISBURG - The opioid epidemic that has claimed lives across Pennsylvania and the nation will get its highest-profile focus at the Capitol this week, when Gov. Wolf addresses a joint session of the General Assembly about what can be done.

But with only a handful of voting days remaining, two key lawmakers questioned whether the legislature could take any action between Wednesday, when Wolf is scheduled to give his speech, and the November election.

Rep. Aaron Kaufer (R., Luzerne), one of the co-chairs of the new PA Heroin, Opioid Prevention and Education Caucus, said last week that he was disappointed the General Assembly is not going to hold a talked-about special session on the epidemic and characterized the governor's address as a public relations gesture.

"I think this is more about PR and more about everybody feeling good than actually getting something done," he said, adding: "The joint session is just more talking about the problem we already know exists."

Kaufer, 28, said he has lost a number of high school classmates to overdoses and that he does not want to go to another funeral.

In all, 3,383 drug-related overdose deaths were reported in 2015 in Pennsylvania, up 23.4 percent from the number the previous year, according to a report from the Philadelphia field division of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, by far the biggest increase in a decade.

Sen. Gene Yaw (R., Lycoming), chairman of the legislative Center for Rural Pennsylvania, which has held hearings on the issue across the state, said that while Wolf's speech would be an important starting point, time was running short for the legislature to take meaningful action. After Wednesday, lawmakers have only six more voting days before the election.

"Hopefully, we can agree on some non-controversial-type things and get them through," he said.

Rep. Dan Frankel (D., Squirrel Hill) sounded a similar note, given the number of remaining session days.

"I think it's going to be a challenge to get much done," Frankel said, "even though there seems to be a lot of agreement on the need to do something."

Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa (D., Allegheny), said the legislature should begin a special session on the issue when it reconvenes in January, but added that members should be able to deliver something in this session.

Wolf, a Democrat, said last week that the legislature has shown it can move quickly and that in his speech he wants to highlight what elected officials can accomplish when they work together.

One Wolf's top agenda items is to require that doctors check an online database of patient drug histories any time they prescribe a controlled substance. Currently a doctor need check only the first time a given drug is prescribed.

The measure is meant to prevent painkiller addicts from getting drugs from multiple doctors simultaneously.

"Addicts are very entrepreneurial, smart people," and they'll find a way to get around the effort if doctors don't have to query the database regularly, said Rep. Gene DiGirolamo (R., Bucks), who wrote a bill demanding the drug history checks.

The Pennsylvania Medical Society has taken the position that checking every time would be time-consuming and redundant for busy doctors.

Perhaps the most controversial measure endorsed by Wolf would bar emergency doctors from prescribing more than seven days worth of opioids, with limited exceptions. Violators could face discipline against their licenses to practice medicine. The Pennsylvania Medical Society has spoken against the bill, saying that details of the ever-changing practice of medicine should not be governed by hard-and-fast laws.

A bill that lines up with Wolf's position has already passed the House, 174-19.

"We want to see prescribing patterns be a certain way, and to prevent addictions," said Rep. Rosemary Brown (R. Monroe), the prime sponsor of the bill.

Harrisburg Bureau reporter Karen Langley: klangley@post-gazette.com or 717-787-2141 or on Twitter @karen_langley.

Rich Lord: rlord@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1542.

Staff writer Angela Couloumbis contributed to this article.