Key Committee Unanimously Advances New Shaheen, Crapo Bipartisan Bill to Help Curb Veterans Overdoses

**Bipartisan bill to help veterans access overdose reversal treatments clears Veterans’ Affairs Committee with bipartisan support**
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH),a senior member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, and Mike Crapo (R-ID) celebrated the U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s unanimous vote to advance their legislation, theEnd Veterans Overdose Act, to help battle the ongoing substance use disorder crisis among veterans by removing barriers to life-saving overdose reversal agents.
“Anything we can do to save more lives from being lost to the substance use disorder crisis, we should be doing – and increasing access to overdose reversal agents at VA facilities is a commonsense step we can take to make these highly-effective treatments more accessible to veterans,”said Senator Shaheen.“I’m glad that my colleagues on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee agreed and unanimously voted to advance our legislation to the Senate floor. I look forward to earning the bipartisan support to pass our bill and help fight the substance use epidemic facing our nation’s veterans.”
“Removing barriers to accessing opioid overdose reversal medications for veterans and their caregivers will help reduce the stigma around seeking treatment and save lives,”said Crapo.“This bill builds upon existing efforts by the VA to address the opioid crisis, and the Committee’s action today to move this critical bill forward recognizes the urgency of this issue.”
Currently, Veterans Affairs (VA) pharmacies provide naloxone to veterans at no-cost, but they must first ask a provider for a prescription. TheEnd Veterans Overdose Act, as amended, would create a one-year pilot program that would make naloxone and other relevant overdose reversal agents available to all veterans without a prescription at VA pharmacies. The legislation is endorsed by the American Legion.
A copy of the bill text can be foundHERE.
Senator Shaheen has led efforts to fight the substance use disorder epidemic and increase access to life-saving treatments. Shaheenannually leads a bipartisan resolutionwith Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to recognize National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day. In theFiscal Year 2026 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations billthat was signed into law, Shaheen secured provisions that will ensure veterans can better access health care, including substance use disorder treatment. Shaheen also leadsthe bipartisanCooper Davis and Devin Norring Actto require social media companies to work with federal agencies to combat the sale and distribution of illicit drugs on their platforms and the bipartisanKeeping Drugs Out of Schools Actwith Senator Grassley that would establish a new grant program that allows current or formerDrug-Free Communities (DFC)coalitions to partner with schools to provide resources educating students about the dangers of synthetic opioids.
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