WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) introduced their Halting the Epidemic of Addiction and Loss (HEAL) Act, which would expand access to new opioid overdose reversal agents in addition to naloxone by updating guidance and grant language from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS):

“The opioid crisis is ravaging communities across the nation, and far too many Texans have lost their lives as a tragic consequence,” said Sen. Cornyn. “This bill would help first responders save more lives by expanding access to new, life-saving overdose reversal medicines, and I urge my colleagues to pass it without delay.”  

“Fentanyl has devastated communities across New Hampshire, and first responders deserve the most advanced and up-to-date tools to fight this epidemic,” said Sen. Hassan. “This bipartisan legislation will help more first responders get access to new types of overdose reversal agents, giving those on the front lines of responding to the fentanyl crisis all of the tools that they need to help save more lives.”

Companion legislation passed the House of Representatives in June as part of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act.

Background:

For the first time in years, new data revealed overdose deaths decreased nearly 30% from the previous year to more than 80,000 deaths in 2024, with 60% of those deaths involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl. As the U.S. continues to grapple with the opioid crisis, access to overdose reversal agents like naloxone is essential to preventing overdoses and deaths. Current HHS guidance and grant language has inadvertently created a monopoly by limiting regulations, guidance, and grants to naloxone, which restricts access to other FDA-approved and potential “next-generation” overdose reversal agents.

Sen. Cornyn has long spearheaded the fight in the Senate to combat the fentanyl crisis and has held half a dozen events across Texas to raise awareness of the perils of this drug, including in Dallas, Austin, Carrollton, DFW, and San Antonio. He has also introduced legislation aimed at combatting illegal pill presses. Sen. Cornyn serves as chair of the U.S. Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control for the 119^th Congress.

The HEAL Act would:

• Ensure that whenever HHS issues a regulation or guidance for any grant program addressing opioid misuse and use disorders, any reference to an opioid overdose reversal agent, such as naloxone, is inclusive of any opioid overdose reversal agent that has been approved or otherwise authorized for use by the FDA.
• Update naloxone-specific references to be “molecule agnostic” in regulation, guidance, and specific grant programs, including the State Opioid Response Grant (SOR) and the Tribal Opioid Response Grant (TOR).
• Provide states, local governments, tribes, and nonprofits that receive HHS and SAMHSA grant funding or guidance the opportunity to use the product that best meets the needs of their communities.

This legislation is endorsed by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Addiction Policy Forum, Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), Association for Addiction Professionals, National Association for Children Impacted by Addiction, National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Agency Directors (NASADAD), National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, Office of Recovery & Reentry, and 30 others.