Editing Orrin Hatch (section)

==== Opioid crisis ====
[[File:Orrin Hatch official photo, 2015.jpg|thumb|Official portrait of Hatch during the 114th Congress, 2015]]
Hatch introduced the [[Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act]], narrowing the broad authority of the [[DEA]] to suspend drug "manufacturers, distributors, and dispensers".<ref>{{cite web|title=Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act of 2016|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/483|website=Congress.gov|date=April 19, 2016|access-date=December 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211171208/https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/483|archive-date=2017-12-11|url-status=live}}</ref> Hatch stated the bill was also written to protect patients from disruptions in the production and delivery of their [[prescription drugs]], saying that ..."The fact that prescription drugs can be abused should not prevent patients from receiving the medications they need. This bill takes a balanced approach to the problem of prescription drug abuse by clarifying penalties for manufacturing or dispensing outside approved procedures while helping to ensure that supply chains to legitimate users remain intact".<ref>{{cite web|title=Hatch and Whitehouse's Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act Passes Senate|url=https://www.hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/releases?ID=4AD21F6A-DAA6-4865-8F4A-4A93AA3FA321|website=Orrin Hatch United States Senator for Utah|access-date=December 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213000538/https://www.hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/releases?ID=4AD21F6A-DAA6-4865-8F4A-4A93AA3FA321|archive-date=2017-12-13|url-status=live}}</ref> The bill passed the Senate unanimously<ref>{{cite web|title=Hatch and White House's Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act Passes Senate|url=https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/hatch-and-whitehouses-ensuring-patient-access-and-effective-drug-enforcement-act-passes-senate|website=Shelodon Whitehouse United States Senator for Rhode Island|access-date=December 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227122220/https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/hatch-and-whitehouses-ensuring-patient-access-and-effective-drug-enforcement-act-passes-senate|archive-date=2017-12-27|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Tom Marino]] passed a version of the bill in the House.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rep. Marino's Prescription Drug Enforcement Legislation Signed into Law|url=https://marino.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-marino-s-prescription-drug-enforcement-legislation-signed-law|website=Tom Marino|date=April 20, 2016 |access-date=December 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227122140/https://marino.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-marino-s-prescription-drug-enforcement-legislation-signed-law|archive-date=2017-12-27|url-status=live}}</ref> It was then signed by President Barack Obama.<ref>{{cite web|title=S.483 – Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act of 2016|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/483/actions|website=congress.gov|date=April 19, 2016|access-date=December 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227122305/https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/483/actions|archive-date=2017-12-27|url-status=live}}</ref>

Critics of the bill claim the new law fuels the opioid crisis by limiting the DEA's ability to halt production and distribution by predatory drug companies.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Llorente|first1=Elizabeth|title=Little-noticed law drug companies fought for: How it passed amid opioid crisis, what it does|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/little-noticed-law-drug-companies-fought-for-how-it-passed-amid-opioid-crisis-what-it-does|website=[[Fox News]]|date=October 17, 2017|access-date=May 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214124922/http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/10/17/little-noticed-law-drug-companies-fought-for-how-it-passed-amid-opioid-crisis-what-it-does.html|archive-date=2017-12-14|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Higham|first1=Scott|last2=Bernstein|first2=Lenny|title=New drug law makes it 'harder for us to do our jobs,' former DEA officials say|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/investigations/dea-law/|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=December 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121222223/https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/investigations/dea-law/|archive-date=January 21, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge John J. Mulrooney II wrote in the [[Marquette Law Review]] that ..."At a time when, by all accounts, opioid abuse, addiction and deaths were increasing markedly, this new law imposed a dramatic diminution of the agency's authority. It is now all but logically impossible for the DEA to suspend a drug company's operations for failing to comply with federal law."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mulrooney|first1=John|last2=Legel|first2=Katherine|title=Current Navigation Points in Drug Diversion Law: Hidden Rocks in Shallow, Murky, Drug-Infested Waters|url=https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4108121-Marquette-Law-Review-Mulrooney-Legel.html|website=Document Cloud|access-date=December 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216091235/https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4108121-Marquette-Law-Review-Mulrooney-Legel.html|archive-date=2017-12-16|url-status=live}}</ref> Donald Trump's Attorney General [[Jeff Sessions]] said he was "dubious" about the law when it passed and joined 44 state attorneys general calling for "repeal or amendment of the law to restore some of the DEA's authority."<ref>{{cite news|title=Sessions says he supports new legislation to strengthen DEA enforcement|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/sessions-announces-grants-and-a-new-dea-office-to-combat-opioids/2017/11/29/0614fccc-d512-11e7-b62d-d9345ced896d_story.html|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=August 24, 2019|archive-date=August 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824043616/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/sessions-announces-grants-and-a-new-dea-office-to-combat-opioids/2017/11/29/0614fccc-d512-11e7-b62d-d9345ced896d_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Bernstein|first1=Lenny|last2=Higham|first2=Scott|title=To fight the opioid crisis, a DEA official says this 2016 law needs changed|url=https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/health/to-fight-the-opioid-crisis-a-dea-official-says-this/article_2d632978-5f21-5790-9bc1-23fd160cf173.html|website=Charleston Gazette-Mail|date=December 13, 2017 |access-date=December 15, 2017|archive-date=December 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213162124/https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/health/to-fight-the-opioid-crisis-a-dea-official-says-this/article_2d632978-5f21-5790-9bc1-23fd160cf173.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Jim Geldhof, a former DEA program manager who spent 43 years with the DEA called the bill "outrageous. It basically takes any kind of action DEA was going to do with a distributor or manufacturer as far as an immediate suspension off the table. And then the other part of that really infuriates me is that corrective action plan."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Higham|first1=Scott|last2=Bernstein|first2=Lenny|title=The new law supported by opioid makers that Jeff Sessions, 44 states and a top DEA official want changed|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-opioid-drug-law-dea-20171215-story.html|website=Chicago Tribune|date=December 15, 2017 |publisher=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=December 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215155230/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-opioid-drug-law-dea-20171215-story.html|archive-date=2017-12-15|url-status=live}}</ref> Mulrooney compared the corrective action plan to one that would "allow bank robbers to round up and return inkstained money and agree not to rob any more banks—all before any of those wrongdoers actually admit fault and without any consequence that might deter such behavior in the future."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Lopez|first1=German|title=Trump's drug czar pick was scapegoated for what was really a bipartisan failure|url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/18/16495498/trump-drug-czar-dea-obama|website=[[Vox (website)|Vox]]|date=October 18, 2017|access-date=December 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216201221/https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/18/16495498/trump-drug-czar-dea-obama|archive-date=2017-12-16|url-status=live}}</ref>

Hatch responded to a ''[[Washington Post]]'' and ''[[60 Minutes]]'' investigation into the bill by writing a ''Washington Post'' opinion article calling the investigation "misleading" and asking to "leave conspiracy theories to [[Netflix]]".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hatch|first1=Orrin|title=Orrin Hatch: Drop the conspiracy theories. Congress didn't hobble the DEA.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/orrin-hatch-drop-the-conspiracy-theories-congress-didnt-hobble-the-dea/2017/10/19/1a7a0092-b44a-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=December 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210173646/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/orrin-hatch-drop-the-conspiracy-theories-congress-didnt-hobble-the-dea/2017/10/19/1a7a0092-b44a-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html|archive-date=2017-12-10|url-status=live}}</ref> Senator [[Sheldon Whitehouse]], a co-sponsor of the senate bill, also defended the bill: "This bill was drafted in consultation with the DEA to offer better guidance for companies working to safely and responsibly supply prescription drugs to pharmacies, and to promote better communication and certainty between companies and regulators."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Nielson|first1=Steve|last2=Nesi|first2=Ted|title=Whitehouse defends sponsoring 2016 drug law assailed on '60 Minutes'|url=http://wpri.com/2017/10/16/whitehouse-defends-sponsoring-2016-drug-law-assailed-on-60-minutes/|website=WPRI|date=October 16, 2017 |access-date=December 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104073057/http://wpri.com/2017/10/16/whitehouse-defends-sponsoring-2016-drug-law-assailed-on-60-minutes/|archive-date=2018-01-04|url-status=live}}</ref> Republican [[Pat Toomey]] expressed doubts that a conspiracy existed, but still suggested amending the bill: "I'm a little surprised that it passed unanimously in both houses, was signed by President Obama and got no opposition from the DEA at the time. That's not the way controversial legislation usually ends up, but hey, if there's problems, then we ought to revisit them."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Roubein|first1=Rachel|title=Newly controversial opioid enforcement law under fire|url=https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/355928-newly-controversial-opioid-enforcement-law-under-fire/|website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|date=October 18, 2017|access-date=December 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222114050/http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/355928-newly-controversial-opioid-enforcement-law-under-fire|archive-date=2017-12-22|url-status=live}}</ref>

Hatch received $177,000 in donations from the drug industry while pushing the bill through<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cordes|first1=Nancy|title="All of us were fooled": Opioid report reverberates across political world|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/opioid-addiction-epidemic-capitol-hill-calls-for-change/|website=[[CBS News]]|date=October 16, 2017 |access-date=December 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216034647/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/opioid-addiction-epidemic-capitol-hill-calls-for-change/|archive-date=2017-12-16|url-status=live}}</ref> and has received $2,178,863 from the Pharmaceuticals/Health Products industry from 1989 to 2014 according to required filings by the [[Federal Election Commission]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Orrin Hatch|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Orrin_Hatch#Campaign_donors|website=BallotPedia|access-date=December 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314072118/https://ballotpedia.org/Orrin_Hatch#Campaign_donors|archive-date=2018-03-14|url-status=live}}</ref>