II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1277 

To establish a commission for the purpose of coordinating efforts to reduce 

prescription drug abuse, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 10, 2013 

Mrs. BOXER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish a commission for the purpose of coordinating 

efforts to reduce prescription drug abuse, and for other 

purposes. 

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 ‘‘Combating Prescrip5 tion Drug Abuse Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMMISSION. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Com8 bating Prescription Drug Abuse Commission (referred to 

9 in this Act as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

10 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 


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1 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Commission shall be 

2 composed of 30 members. Such members shall be 

3 appointed by the Comptroller General of the United 

4 States, in consultation with the Secretary of Health 

5 and Human Services and the Attorney General. 

6 (2) COMPOSITION.—The members appointed 

7 under paragraph (1) shall include an equitable bal8 ance of individuals representing health care groups 

9 and law enforcement groups, including— 

10 (A) a representative of the Drug Enforce11 ment Administration; 

12 (B) a representative of the Food and Drug 

13 Administration; 

14 (C) a representative of the Office of Na15 tional Drug Control Policy; 

16 (D) representatives of patient, advocacy, 

17 and community-based groups; 

18 (E) representatives of pharmacy, pre19 scribers, hospitals, wholesalers, dispensers, 

20 manufacturers, and other health care groups; 

21 (F) public policy experts; 

22 (G) representatives of State attorneys gen23 eral; and 

24 (H) representatives of law enforcement of25 ficials, including local law enforcement officials. 


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1 (3) DATE OF APPOINTMENT.—The appoint2 ments of the members of the Commission shall be 

3 made not later than 180 days after the date of en4 actment of this Act. 

5 (4) CO-CHAIRS.—The representative of the 

6 Drug Enforcement Administration and the rep7 resentative of the Food and Drug Administration 

8 shall serve as Co-Chairs of the Commission. 

9 (5) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.— 

10 Members shall be appointed for the life of the Com11 mission. Any vacancy in the Commission shall not 

12 affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same 

13 manner as the original appointment. 

14 (c) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at the 

15 call of the Co-Chairs. The Commission shall meet for at 

16 least 2 public meetings, at which the Commission shall 

17 provide opportunity for public input, comment, and sug18 gestion. 

19 (d) DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall— 

21 (A) review and report to Congress on Fed22 eral initiatives with respect to efforts to prevent 

23 and reduce prescription drug abuse; 

24 (B) identify gaps and opportunities with 

25 respect to ensuring the safe use of prescription 


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1 drugs with the potential for diversion and 

2 abuse; and 

3 (C) make recommendations on specific 

4 ways to reduce diversion and abuse of prescrip5 tion drugs. 

6 (2) REPORT.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

9 Commission shall issue a report to Congress 

10 that describes the efforts of the Commission to 

11 prevent or reduce drug diversion and abuse to 

12 ensure that patients continue to have access to 

13 medications. 

14 (B) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The report de15 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall include spe16 cific recommendations for the Drug Enforce17 ment Administration, the Food and Drug Ad18 ministration, and other Federal and State agen19 cies, as appropriate, and shall include the fol20 lowing topics: 

21 (i) Systems for prescription drug 

22 monitoring, which shall include proposals 

23 to increase the use and sustainability of 

24 prescription drug monitoring programs. 


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1 (ii) Illegal Internet prescription drug 

2 sites and ‘‘pill mills’’ that distribute pre3 scription drugs and fill prescriptions inap4 propriately. 

5 (iii) Facilitating proper disposal of 

6 prescription drugs, including public out7 reach and education efforts with respect to 

8 such proper disposal. 

9 (iv) Identifying active areas of pre10 scription drug abuse. 

11 (v) Improving collaboration among 

12 Federal agencies, especially the Drug En13 forcement Administration and the Food 

14 and Drug Administration. 

15 (vi) Improving collaboration between 

16 Federal agencies and relevant stakeholders, 

17 including the groups represented on the 

18 Commission. 

19 (vii) The resource needs for law en20 forcement. 

21 (viii) Proposals to improve the edu22 cation of providers, patients, parents, and 

23 youth. 

24 (ix) Development of abuse-resistant 

25 products. 


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1 (x) Recommendations for reducing 

2 robberies, burglaries, and cargo theft. 

3 (e) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 

4 (1) HEARINGS.—The Commission may hold 

5 such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, 

6 take such testimony, and receive such evidence as 

7 the Commission considers advisable to carry out this 

8 section. 

9 (2) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

10 The Commission may secure directly from any Fed11 eral department or agency such information as the 

12 Commission considers necessary to carry out this 

13 section. Upon the request of the Co-Chairs of the 

14 Commission, the head of such department or agency 

15 shall furnish such information to the Commission in 

16 a timely manner. 

17 (f) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Information obtained by the 

18 Commission from any Federal agency shall be exempt 

19 from disclosure under section 552 of title 5, United States 

20 Code. For purposes of the preceding sentence, this sub21 section shall be considered a statute described in sub22 section (b)(3)(B) of such section 552. 

23 (g) TERMINATION OF THE COMMISSION.—The Com24 mission shall terminate 2 years after the date on which 

25 the members are appointed under subsection (b). 


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1 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

3 appropriated $3,000,000 for fiscal years 2014 

4 through 2016 to the Commission to carry out this 

5 section. 

6 (2) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—No funds 

7 appropriated under paragraph (1) may be used to 

8 carry out the recommendations of the Commission. 

Æ 


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