The Washington Post and 60 Minutes have done a major disservice to the battle against opioid abuse with their biased and one-sided reporting, specifically related to the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act. Their reporting was based primarily on the word of a former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) official, Joe Rannazzisi, who is now a consultant to trial lawyers suing the industry, as noted in both outlets.

Two years ago, Congress approved bipartisan legislation to address the rapidly growing opioid epidemic. Yet today, that legislation — S.483: Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act — is the subject of two upcoming media reports which mischaracterize the intent and outcome of the legislation.