Washington, D.C.—With overwhelming bipartisan support, the U.S. Senate passed a comprehensive, evidence-based response to combat the heroin and opioid epidemic by a vote of 92-2. The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, or CARA, is cosponsored by U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.  The CARA Conference Report contains two amendments authored by Senator Collins, as well as a number of provisions for which she advocated.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today that the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) will receive $176,049 in federal funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to bolster public health system preparedness and response capabilities to protect Americans from the Zika virus.

Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senator Susan Collins, the Co-Chair of the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease and a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced today that the Committee approved $1.391 billion for Alzheimer’s research at the National Institutes of Health, an increase of $400 million. 

WASHINGTON, D.C.—As part of a multifaceted approach to address our nation’s opioid abuse and heroin public health crisis, U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Aging Committee, have written to five companies regarding their efforts to preserve the accessibility of the opioid reversal drug naloxone. 

Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, announced today that the Senate Appropriations Committee has approved $132 million to combat the heroin and opioid abuse crisis.  The legislation was unanimously approved by the Committee and will now be considered by the full Senate.

Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced that the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory has been awarded $249,000 by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.  The grant will allow researchers to study a possible cause of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN).

Click HERE to watch Senator Collins’ floor statement

Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senator Susan Collins spoke from the Senate floor today to urge her colleagues to support funding to address the emerging and evolving Zika virus, which poses a particular threat to pregnant women and can cause serious birth defects. 

“Since I founded the Senate Diabetes Caucus in 1997, funding for diabetes research has more than tripled,” said Senator Collins.  “The 2016 omnibus spending bill passed late last year continues this progress with an overall $2 billion increase for the National Institutes of Health, the largest since 2003, but there is still much work to be done.  I have called on my colleagues to maintain our strong commitment to diabetes research in the 2017 spending bill, and Senator Shaheen and I are determined to require Medicare to cover Continuous Glucose Monitors, just as many private insurance companies already do.  Today’s investments will yield cures and therapies for patients tomorrow.”

Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King introduced legislation today that would extend the Access Received Closer to Home (ARCH) program for an additional five years.  Absent congressional action, the pilot program will expire on August 7, 2016.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today that the Department of Health and Human Services has awarded over $1.2 million dollars to community health centers in Maine to help fight the opioid epidemic. The funding will expand the delivery of substance abuse services, including medication assisted treatment, with a focus on treatment of opioid use disorders.

Bipartisan legislation stems from ongoing Aging Committee investigation into the causes, impacts, and potential solutions to these egregious price spikes

Millions of older Americans experience pain associated with such conditions as bone fractures, cancer, post-surgery recovery, and end-of-life illnesses.  Studies have shown that as many as 50 percent of older adults living at home and 85 percent of older adults living in residential facilities may suffer from chronic pain.  For these older Americans, prompt delivery of pain control is a medical imperative.

Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) led a bipartisan delegation of 26 U.S. Senators in writing to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, regarding one possible contributing factor to the opioid crisis and heroin epidemic facing our country. The letter urges HHS to conduct a robust examination of whether or not certain questions on patient satisfaction surveys may inadvertently encourage treatment with opioid pain relievers, contributing to the vast supply of prescription opioids currently in circulation in our country. According to the CDC, health care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for painkillers in 2012, enough for every American adult to have a bottle of pills.

Click HERE to watch Senator Collins' questions