Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA), President Donald Trump’s choice for drug czar, apparently has pulled out of the running after an investigation by the Washington Post and the CBS television news program 60 Minutes showed that he spearheaded legislation that made it harder for the government to police the pharmaceutical industry when it comes to opioid painkillers.
Trump tweeted this morning that Marino informed him that he was withdrawing his name from consideration as head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). “Tom is a fine man and a great Congressman!” the president added.
Rep. Thomas Marino (R-PA) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Sept. 23, 2011.
One overlooked section of the law in question, the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act of 2016, pertains to the ability of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to shut down a drugmaker, distributor, or pharmacy to prevent imminent danger to the public. Previously, the DEA could take such drastic action immediately if, for example, it determined that a distributor was supplying opioids to pharmacies that collaborated with illegal “pill mills.” To prevent fatal opioid overdoses, put at 33,000 in 2015, the Department of Justice has intensified its crackdown on pill mills and the physicians who work in them.
Under the law sponsored by Marino, the DEA now must demonstrate that a company poses “a substantial likelihood of an immediate threat” and let it submit a “corrective action plan” before it suspends or revokes its controlled-substance registration, slowing down the process.
The Washington Post and 60 Minutes went public this past weekend with their joint report on the role that Marino and other lawmakers played in crafting and promoting the industry-friendly legislation, which former President Barack Obama signed into law.
The revelations prompted Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WVA), whose state has been hard hit by the opioid abuse epidemic, to urge Trump to withdraw Marino’s nomination, which requires Senate confirmation. “Congressman Marino no longer has my trust or that of the public that he will aggressively pursue the fight against opioid abuse,” Manchin wrote in a letter to Trump. In a news release, the senator added that he “cannot believe the last administration did not sound the alarm on how harmful that bill would be.”
Marino did not respond to a request for an interview.
The withdrawal of his nomination to head the ONDCP represents another controversy in the administration’s response to the opioid abuse epidemic. Trump has been criticized for not following through on his promise from August 10 to declare the opioid crisis a national emergency, a move that would free up federal money and resources for the fight.
In a press conference yesterday, Trump said he would declare a national emergency next week. “It’s a very important step,” the president told reporters. “And to get to that step, a lot of work has to be done, and it’s time-consuming work.”
The White House also drew flak in May when it floated a budget proposal to reduce the ONDCP’s funding from $380 million in fiscal 2017 to $24 million in 2018. Most of the savings would have come from eliminating the agency’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program and the Drug-Free Communities Support Program. After a public outcry about the prospect of gutting the ONDCP during the opioid crisis, the administration revised its budget plan to preserve the two programs at roughly the same funding level.
Follow Robert Lowes on Twitter @LowesRobert
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