I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5633 

To amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary, 

acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention, to provide for a public education campaign for the promotion 

outreach and education campaign to raise public awareness of synthetic 

opioids. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 16, 2020 

Mr. KIM (for himself and Mr. PAPPAS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to 

direct the Secretary, acting through the Director of the 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to provide 

for a public education campaign for the promotion outreach and education campaign to raise public awareness 

of synthetic opioids. 

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 ‘‘Synthetic Opioid Dan5 ger Awareness Act’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. SYNTHETIC OPIOIDS PUBLIC AWARENESS CAM2 PAIGN. 

3 Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

4 is amended by inserting after section 317T (42 U.S.C. 

5 247b–22) the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 317U. SYNTHETIC OPIOIDS PUBLIC AWARENESS CAM7 PAIGN. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

9 date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, acting 

10 through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control 

11 and Prevention, shall provide for the planning and imple12 mentation of a public education campaign to raise public 

13 awareness of synthetic opioids (including fentanyl and its 

14 analogues). Such campaign shall include the dissemination 

15 of information that— 

16 ‘‘(1) promotes awareness about the potency and 

17 dangers of fentanyl and its analogues and other syn18 thetic opioids; 

19 ‘‘(2) explains services provided by the Sub20 stance Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminis21 tration and the Centers for Disease Control and 

22 Prevention (and any entity providing such services 

23 under a contract entered into with such agencies) 

24 with respect to the abuse of opioids, particularly as 

25 such services relate to the provision of alternative, 

26 non-opioid pain management treatments; and 

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1 ‘‘(3) relates generally to opioid use and pain 

2 management. 

3 ‘‘(b) USE OF MEDIA.—The campaign under sub4 section (a) may be implemented through the use of tele5 vision, radio, internet, in-person public communications, 

6 and other commercial marketing venues and may be tar7 geted to specific age groups. 

8 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—In coordinating the campaign 

9 under subsection (a), the Secretary, acting through the 

10 Director shall consult with the Assistant Secretary for 

11 Mental Health and Substance Use to provide ongoing ad12 vice on the effectiveness of information disseminated 

13 through the campaign. 

14 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENT OF CAMPAIGN.—The campaign 

15 implemented under subsection (a) shall not be duplicative 

16 of any other Federal efforts relating to eliminating the 

17 abuse of opioids. 

18 ‘‘(e) EVALUATION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

20 through the Director, shall ensure that the campaign 

21 implemented under subsection (a) is subject to an 

22 independent evaluation, beginning 2 years after the 

23 date of the enactment of this section, and every 2 

24 years thereafter. 

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1 ‘‘(2) MEASURES AND BENCHMARKS.—For pur2 poses of an evaluation conducted pursuant to para3 graph (1), the Secretary shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) establish baseline measures and 

5 benchmarks to quantitatively evaluate the im6 pact of the campaign under this section; and 

7 ‘‘(B) conduct qualitative assessments re8 garding the effectiveness of strategies employed 

9 under this section. 

10 ‘‘(f) REPORT.—The Secretary, acting through the Di11 rector, shall, beginning 2 years after the date of the enact12 ment of this section, and every 2 years thereafter, submit 

13 to Congress a report on the effectiveness of the campaign 

14 implemented under subsection (a) towards meeting the 

15 measures and benchmarks established under subsection 

16 (e)(2). 

17 ‘‘(g) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION THROUGH

18 PROVIDERS.—The Secretary, acting through the Director, 

19 shall develop and implement a plan for the dissemination 

20 of information related to synthetic opioids, to health care 

21 providers who participate in Federal programs, including 

22 programs administered by the Department of Health and 

23 Human Services, the Indian Health Service, the Depart24 ment of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, and 

25 the Health Resources and Services Administration, the 

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1 Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security 

2 Act, and the Medicaid program under title XIX of such 

3 Act.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. TRAINING GUIDE AND OUTREACH ON SYNTHETIC 

5 OPIOID EXPOSURE PREVENTION. 

6 (a) TRAINING GUIDE.—Not later than 1 year after 

7 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

8 Health and Human Services, acting through the National 

9 Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, shall design, 

10 publish, and make publicly available on the internet 

11 website of the Institute, a training guide and webinar for 

12 first responders and other individuals who also may be at 

13 high risk of exposure to synthetic opioids that details 

14 measures to prevent that exposure. 

15 (b) OUTREACH.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

16 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 

17 Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary 

18 for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall also conduct 

19 outreach about the availability of the training guide and 

20 webinar published under subsection (a) to— 

21 (1) police and fire managements; 

22 (2) sheriff deputies in city and county jails; 

23 (3) ambulance transport and hospital emer24 gency room personnel; 

25 (4) clinicians; and 

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1 (5) other high-risk occupations, as identified by 

2 the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Sub3 stance Use. 

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