115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 581 

AN ACT 

To include information concerning a patient’s opioid 

addiction in certain medical records. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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†S 581 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as ‘‘Jessie’s Law’’. 

3 SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF OPIOID ADDICTION HISTORY IN PA4 TIENT RECORDS. 

5 (a) BEST PRACTICES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

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

8 Health and Human Services, in consultation with 

9 appropriate stakeholders, including a patient with a 

10 history of opioid use disorder, an expert in electronic 

11 health records, an expert in the confidentiality of pa12 tient health information and records, and a health 

13 care provider, shall identify or facilitate the develop14 ment of best practices regarding— 

15 (A) the circumstances under which infor16 mation that a patient has provided to a health 

17 care provider regarding such patient’s history of 

18 opioid use disorder should, only at the patient’s 

19 request, be prominently displayed in the med20 ical records (including electronic health records) 

21 of such patient; 

22 (B) what constitutes the patient’s request 

23 for the purpose described in subparagraph (A); 

24 and 

25 (C) the process and methods by which the 

26 information should be so displayed. 
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†S 581 ES

1 (2) DISSEMINATION.—The Secretary shall dis2 seminate the best practices developed under para3 graph (1) to health care providers and State agen4 cies. 

5 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In identifying or facilitating 

6 the development of best practices under subsection (a), as 

7 applicable, the Secretary, in consultation with appropriate 

8 stakeholders, shall consider the following: 

9 (1) The potential for addiction relapse or over10 dose, including overdose death, when opioid medica11 tions are prescribed to a patient recovering from 

12 opioid use disorder. 

13 (2) The benefits of displaying information 

14 about a patient’s opioid use disorder history in a 

15 manner similar to other potentially lethal medical 

16 concerns, including drug allergies and contraindica17 tions. 

18 (3) The importance of prominently displaying 

19 information about a patient’s opioid use disorder 

20 when a physician or medical professional is pre21 scribing medication, including methods for avoiding 

22 alert fatigue in providers. 

23 (4) The importance of a variety of appropriate 

24 medical professionals, including physicians, nurses, 

25 and pharmacists, to have access to information de-
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†S 581 ES

1 scribed in this section when prescribing or dis2 pensing opioid medication, consistent with Federal 

3 and State laws and regulations. 

4 (5) The importance of protecting patient pri5 vacy, including the requirements related to consent 

6 for disclosure of substance use disorder information 

7 under all applicable laws and regulations. 

8 (6) All applicable Federal and State laws and 

9 regulations. 

Passed the Senate August 3, 2017. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 581 

AN ACT 

To include information concerning a patient’s 

opioid addiction in certain medical records.