WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) introduced legislation to close gaps in chronic pain research and help scientists propel chronic pain research forward.

Treating chronic pain has become challenging in the wake of the opioid epidemic. The legislation focuses on information and research, and ways to better communicate that research to doctors and scientists.

The Advancing Research for Chronic Pain Act would centralize current information and data to help clinicians and scientists more effectively research chronic pain conditions plaguing many Americans.

“Too many Americans, especially older adults, are living with crippling pain that may prevent them from working, taking care of their children, or completing everyday tasks like cooking or cleaning,” said Casey. “The Advancing Research for Chronic Pain Act will ensure our nation’s health care providers and scientists have the latest data and tools available to make progress on chronic pain and provide relief to millions.”

"With roughly 20 percent of our nation’s population living with chronic pain, it’s critically important that we encourage further research in this area and develop a centralized hub for Americans to access the latest information,” said Blackburn. “This bipartisan legislation will equip the CDC to pull together existing resources and identify gaps where more research is needed to better inform chronic pain patients, clinicians and scientists.”

“For far too long, the lack of research and resources for many Americans who suffer from chronic pain has prevented patients from receiving the care they need,” said Cramer. “It’s time to put those chronic pain patients first by encouraging publicly available research and best practices to advance the quality of treatment and support across the country.”

The act would direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to utilize available research data to clarify the prevalence and characteristics of chronic pain; identify gaps in the available research data; develop standard definitions for population research on chronic pain; and create a centralized Chronic Pain Information Hub to aggregate and summarize available data, maintain a summary of complete, ongoing and planned research, and translate findings to recommendations for clinicians and scientists.

Read more about the Advancing Research for Chronic Pain Act at www.casey.senate.gov/.