April 22 (Reuters) - A panel of the U.S. House of Representatives has scheduled a hearing for April 29 on a rising tide of prescription drug and heroin abuse in the United States.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee "will review the growing concerns regarding heroin and prescription opioid abuse and related deaths," the panel said in a statement on Tuesday.
Data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse finds that heroin use has been increasing since 2007, with nearly double the number of Americans using heroin in 2012 than in 2006.
(Reporting by Ros Krasny; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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