May 3, 2005

MARK SOUDER'S GOOD MOVE

Souder: Doin' the right thing.

One thing's for certain about Washington: Even the most bitter antagonists can usually find something to agree on. Take Housing Works and Mark Souder (R-IN), for instance. Only two months ago, a noisy crew of HW clients and staff crashed a hearing that Souder—who heads a key House subcommittee that deals with illegal drugs—had stacked with fellow believers in the notion that needle-exchange programs (NEPs) enable drug use more than they prevent disease. (The HW crew's neon-stickered assertion that "Clean needles saved my life" put a crimp in the day's needle-busting agenda. See 2/24/05 article.) Needless to say, Souder was the winter's top whipping boy for anyone who believes in compassionate policies toward drug users.

But last week, the health subcommittee of the House's Energy and Commerce Committee adopted amendment HR-869, which would allow group medical practices to prescribe the heroin treatment buprenorphine (or "bupe") to 30 patients per doctor—a welcome increase from the 30 patients per group practice that a 2000 law currently allows for. That means that many more people will be able to access the drug treatment—which enables withdrawal from heroin and prescription opiates like Oxycontin without the dreadful accompanying symptoms. Buprenorphine also doesn't create its own high and thus court a street market, as methadone does—so, unlike methadone, patients don't have to show up at clinics daily to take their dose under strict watch.

It's a welcome new tool in the drug-treatment arsenal, which is why Housing Works in January endorsed the amendment broadening access to it. The amendment's sponsor? None other than Souder. His counsel, Marc Wheat, called the 30-patient cap on whole medical groups (the largest of which, such as Kaiser Permanente, treat vast numbers of patients) "a problem we had identified that didn't seem to have any good reason behind it. We think physicians should be treated equally [whether they practice in large or small groups] so long as they meet the regulations" for prescribing bupe, which include eight hours of special training.

"There didn't seem to be any good reason behind it," says a Souder staffer of the "bupe" ban

Wheat called last week's nod from the health subcommittee a jump over "a key hurdle" in broadening access to bupe. Bob Nickerson, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's legislative representative in D.C. (who says the change would vastly benefit the city), agreed. "This is a great step toward a lifesaving measure for people who have opiate addictions," he said. It decreases crime rates, saves on health care dollars and allows opiate-addicted individuals to finally have a life."

Next up? A vote before the full House E&C committee in May, then before the House Judiciary Committee —then hopefully onto the Congress floor. (The amendment already passed the Senate last year). "I'm quite confident either this bill or the Senate version will be signed into law in this Congress," Wheat said. "But we still need citizens who support H.R. 869 to ask more members of Congress to cosponsor it." He urged AIDS Issues Update readers to call the House switchboard at 202.225.3121, ask to speak to their reps (Don't know 'em? Go to www.house.gov and type in your zip code) and do just that.

Why not? Who knows the next time you and Mark Souder may be agreeing on something?

The Housing Works AIDS Issues Update is reported, written and edited by Diana Scholl, David Thorpe, Christine Campbell, terri smith-caronia and Housing Works staff. Send your feedback, leads and story ideas to d.scholl@housingworks.org.

You can reach us by phone at 212-967-1500 x168, by fax at 212-868-4222, and by email at d.scholl@housingworks.org. Housing Works provides housing, advocacy and services to homeless people living with AIDS and HIV. Housing Works is the nation's largest community-based AIDS organization and the nation's largest minority-controlled AIDS organization.

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