II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 516 

To require the use of prescription drug monitoring programs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2019 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. KING, and Mr. MANCHIN) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To require the use of prescription drug monitoring programs. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prescription Drug 

5 Monitoring Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REQUIRING THE USE OF PRESCRIPTION DRUG 

7 MONITORING PROGRAMS. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE.—The term 

10 ‘‘controlled substance’’ has the meaning given the 


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1 term in section 102 of the Controlled Substances 

2 Act (21 U.S.C. 802). 

3 (2) COVERED STATE.—The term ‘‘covered 

4 State’’ means a State that receives funding under 

5 the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring 

6 Program established under the Departments of 

7 Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and 

8 Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002 (Public 

9 Law 107–77; 115 Stat. 748), or under the con10 trolled substance monitoring program under section 

11 399O of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 280g–3). 

13 (3) DISPENSER.—The term ‘‘dispenser’’— 

14 (A) means a person licensed or otherwise 

15 authorized by a State to deliver a prescription 

16 drug product to a patient or an agent of the pa17 tient; and 

18 (B) does not include a person involved in 

19 oversight or payment for prescription drugs. 

20 (4) PDMP.—The term ‘‘PDMP’’ means a pre21 scription drug monitoring program. 

22 (5) PRACTITIONER.—The term ‘‘practitioner’’ 

23 means a practitioner registered under section 303(f) 

24 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823(f)) 


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1 to prescribe, administer, or dispense controlled sub2 stances. 

3 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

4 the several States and the District of Columbia. 

5 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Beginning 1 year after the 

6 date of enactment of this Act, each covered State shall 

7 require— 

8 (1) each prescribing practitioner within the cov9 ered State or their designee, who shall be licensed or 

10 registered healthcare professionals or other employ11 ees who report directly to the practitioner, to consult 

12 the PDMP of the covered State before initiating 

13 treatment with a prescription for a controlled sub14 stance listed in schedule II, III, or IV of section 

15 202(c) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 

16 812(c)), and every 3 months thereafter as long as 

17 the treatment continues; 

18 (2) the PDMP of the covered State to provide 

19 proactive notification to a practitioner when patterns 

20 indicative of controlled substance misuse, including 

21 opioid misuse, are detected; 

22 (3) each dispenser within the covered State to 

23 report each prescription for a controlled substance 

24 dispensed by the dispenser to the PDMP not later 


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1 than 24 hours after the controlled substance is dis2 pensed to the patient; 

3 (4) that the PDMP make available a quarterly 

4 de-identified data set and an annual report for pub5 lic and private use, including use by healthcare pro6 viders, health plans and health benefits administra7 tors, State agencies, and researchers, which shall, at 

8 a minimum, meet requirements established by the 

9 Attorney General, in coordination with the Secretary 

10 of Health and Human Services; 

11 (5) each State agency that administers the 

12 PDMP to— 

13 (A) proactively analyze data available 

14 through the PDMP; and 

15 (B) provide reports to law enforcement 

16 agencies and prescriber licensing boards de17 scribing any prescribing practitioner that re18 peatedly fall outside of expected norms or 

19 standard practices for the prescribing practi20 tioner’s field; and 

21 (6) that the data contained in the PDMP of the 

22 covered State be made available to other States. 

23 (c) NONCOMPLIANCE.—If a covered State fails to 

24 comply with subsection (a), the Attorney General or the 

25 Secretary of Health and Human Services may withhold 


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1 grant funds from being awarded to the covered State 

2 under the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring 

3 Program established under the Departments of Com4 merce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related 

5 Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002 (Public Law 107–77; 

6 115 Stat. 748), or under the controlled substance moni7 toring program under section 399O of the Public Health 

8 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280g–3). 

Æ 


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