HR1076 Summary

• Recognizes chronic pain as a serious public health problem affecting over 100 million Americans and costing up to $635 billion annually in health costs and lost productivity.

• Encourages state agencies to implement recommendations from the 2011 Institute of Medicine report "Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education and Research" to improve pain care and reduce health expenditures.

• Acknowledges prescription drug abuse of pain medications as a serious health problem in Oklahoma, with the state having tied Kentucky for the third highest rate of painkillers prescribed in 2012 and 510 unintentional drug overdose deaths in 2014.

• Encourages patients and providers to use appropriate pain management approaches including nonpharmacological treatments, nonopioid medications, and abuse-deterrent medications when appropriate.

• Designates September as Pain Awareness Month and encourages Oklahoma citizens to become informed about chronic pain impacts and prescription opioid abuse prevention.