U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) questioned Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Dr. Anne Schuchat, Principal Deputy Director of the CDC, on the agency’s continued efforts to address methamphetamine overdoses, as well as exposure to toxic PFAS chemicals in New Hampshire, during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing about the CDC’s budget for fiscal year 2022. Shaheen is a senior member of the committee.

Shaheen raised the challenges posed by the increase of meth overdoses in New Hampshire with Director Walensky, which have soared in recent years. Shaheen sought information on what the agency is doing to improve treatment options for meth overdoses, which lack an effective and equivalent treatment akin to Narcan for opioid overdoses, and underscored the need for the agency to provide assistance for states hardest hit by the substance use disorder epidemic. Shaheen also urged Director Walensky to direct the CDC to again prioritize set-aside funding for State Opioid Response Grants funds which the Senator has successfully fought to secure, expand and provide flexibility for to help patients suffering from meth and cocaine dependency, in addition to opioids.

Shaheen also raised the CDC’s efforts to combat and remediate PFAS exposure impacting Seacoast communities, the Pease Air National Guard Base and families across New Hampshire. The Senator highlighted her provision included in government funding legislation passed by Congress and signed into law in December that provided $1 million for new grants from the CDC to develop education courses for physicians who care for patients with significant PFAS exposure. CDC Principal Deputy Director Schuchat also promised Shaheen more details on the status of the Pease Health Study, which Shaheen worked to establish, and studies investigating the connection between exposure to PFAS and severity of COVID-19 illness.

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