I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4284 

To establish a Federal Coordinator within the Department of Health and 

Human Services, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 7, 2017 

Mr. LATTA (for himself, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. BARTON, and Mr. JOHNSON of 

Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To establish a Federal Coordinator within the Department 

of Health and Human Services, 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 ‘‘Indexing Narcotics, 

5 Fentanyl, and Opioids Act of 2017’’ or the ‘‘INFO Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL COORDINATOR. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health 

9 and Human Services shall appoint a Federal Coordinator 


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1 for the Department of Health and Human Services to 

2 carry out the duties described in subsection (b). 

3 (b) DUTIES.—The Federal Coordinator shall— 

4 (1) coordinate programs within the Department 

5 of Health and Human Services that relate to opioid 

6 abuse reduction; 

7 (2) serve as a liaison to State and local govern8 ments and entities carrying out activities relating to 

9 opioid abuse reduction pursuant to a Federal con10 tract or grant; and 

11 (3) in consultation with the United States At12 torney General, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 

13 the Director of the Office of National Drug Control 

14 Policy, and any other individual that the Federal 

15 Coordinator determines appropriate, establish and 

16 operate a publicly available electronic database 

17 through which the Federal Coordinator shall carry 

18 out the following: 

19 (A) Collect data on opioid abuse from Fed20 eral agencies; State, local, and Tribal govern21 ments; nonprofit organizations; law enforce22 ment; medical experts; public health educators; 

23 and research institutions. 


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1 (B) Publish a comprehensive list of Fed2 eral funding resources available to States for 

3 research on opioid abuse. 

4 (C) Analyze causes and trends behind 

5 opioid addiction and pain management. 

6 (D) Evaluate the effectiveness of Federal 

7 programs for opioid abuse reduction, including 

8 opioid treatment programs and medicated-as9 sisted treatments. 

10 (E) Evaluate whether any Federal pro11 grams for opioid abuse reduction are duplica12 tive. 

13 (F) Evaluate the extent to which Federal 

14 grants for the implementation of opioid abuse 

15 prevention strategies are successful in address16 ing opioid abuse in local communities. 

17 (G) Provide recommendations to health 

18 care providers on alternatives to opioids for 

19 pain management and other areas in which 

20 health care providers can improve with respect 

21 to treating or preventing opioid abuse. 

22 (H) Analyze opioid prescription guidelines, 

23 the different types of opioids prescribed by 

24 health care providers, and the use of medicated25 assisted treatments. 


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1 (I) Compare the rate of opioid abuse in 

2 veterans receiving health care through the De3 partment of Veterans Affairs with the rate of 

4 opioid abuse in the general population. 

5 (J) Compare opioid abuse trends and pre6 vention and treatment strategies in different re7 gions and populations of the United States and 

8 determine whether certain strategies are more 

9 effective than others. 

10 (K) Analyze to what extent Federal pre11 vention and treatment strategies for opioid 

12 abuse are aligned with State and local preven13 tion and treatment strategies. 

14 (c) REPORTS.— 

15 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than one year 

16 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

17 Federal Coordinator shall submit to Congress an ini18 tial report on the results of any analysis, evaluation, 

19 or comparison conducted under subsection (b)(3). 

20 (2) UPDATED REPORT.—Not later than five 

21 years after the date of the enactment of this section, 

22 the Federal Coordinator shall submit to Congress a 

23 report that provides updates with respect to any re24 sults submitted in the initial report under paragraph 

25 (1). 


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1 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Each report sub2 mitted under this subsection shall be made publicly 

3 available on the electronic database established 

4 under subsection (b)(3). 

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