II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2659 

To amend the Controlled Substances Act to authorize employees of hospice 

programs to handle controlled substances in the residences of certain 

hospice patients to assist in disposal of those controlled substances. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 12, 2018 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Ms. HASSAN, Mrs. CAPITO, Ms. BALDWIN, and Ms. 

WARREN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Controlled Substances Act to authorize employees of hospice programs to handle controlled substances in the residences of certain hospice patients to 

assist in disposal of those controlled substances. 

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 ‘‘Safe Disposal of Un5 used Medication Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DISPOSAL OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES OF CER2 TAIN HOSPICE PATIENTS BY EMPLOYEES OF 

3 QUALIFIED HOSPICE PROGRAMS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302(g) of the Controlled 

5 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 822(g)) is amended by adding 

6 at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(5)(A)(i) An employee of a qualified hospice pro8 gram or an emergency medical services professional, act9 ing within the scope of employment and for the purpose 

10 of assisting in the disposal of a controlled substance in 

11 a case described in clause (ii), may handle, in the place 

12 of residence of a hospice patient, any controlled substance 

13 that was lawfully dispensed to the hospice patient. 

14 ‘‘(ii) A case described in this clause is a case in 

15 which— 

16 ‘‘(I) the hospice patient has died; or 

17 ‘‘(II) the controlled substance is expired. 

18 ‘‘(iii)(I) For purposes of clause (i), if a State has in 

19 place requirements to allow an employee of a hospice pro20 gram, acting within the scope of employment and for the 

21 purpose of assisting in the disposal of a controlled sub22 stance in a case described in clause (ii), to handle, in the 

23 place of residence of a hospice patient, any controlled sub24 stance that was lawfully dispensed to the hospice patient, 

25 and the Attorney General determines that those require26 ments provide safeguards equivalent to the safeguards 


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1 provided under subparagraph (C)(vi), the employee of the 

2 hospice program shall not be required to be an employee 

3 of a qualified hospice program. 

4 ‘‘(II) If the Attorney General determines that the re5 quirements of a State described in subclause (I) do not 

6 provide safeguards equivalent to the safeguards provided 

7 under subparagraph (C)(vi), the State may file a petition 

8 for judicial review of the determination with an appro9 priate district court of the United States. 

10 ‘‘(B) The Attorney General, in consultation with the 

11 Secretary, may promulgate regulations to authorize an 

12 employee of a hospice program, acting within the scope 

13 of employment and for the purpose of assisting in the dis14 posal of a controlled substance, to handle, in the place of 

15 residence of a hospice patient, any controlled substance 

16 that was lawfully dispensed to the hospice patient if— 

17 ‘‘(i) with respect to the controlled substance, 

18 the plan of care of the hospice patient has been 

19 modified; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) pursuant to the modification of the plan of 

21 care, the hospice patient no longer requires the con22 trolled substance. 

23 ‘‘(C) In this paragraph— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the term ‘emergency medical services pro2 fessional’ has the meaning given the term in section 

3 303; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘employee of a hospice pro5 gram’— 

6 ‘‘(I) means a person who is— 

7 ‘‘(aa) employed by, or pursuant to ar8 rangements made by, a hospice program; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(bb) licensed or certified to perform 

11 such employment in accordance with appli12 cable State law; and 

13 ‘‘(II) includes— 

14 ‘‘(aa) a physician; and 

15 ‘‘(bb) a registered nurse; 

16 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘employee of a qualified hospice 

17 program’— 

18 ‘‘(I) means a person who is— 

19 ‘‘(aa) employed by, or pursuant to ar20 rangements made by, a qualified hospice 

21 program; and 

22 ‘‘(bb) licensed or certified to perform 

23 such employment in accordance with appli24 cable State law; and 

25 ‘‘(II) includes— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) a physician; and 

2 ‘‘(bb) a registered nurse; 

3 ‘‘(iv) the terms ‘hospice care’ and ‘hospice pro4 gram’ have the meanings given those terms in sec5 tion 1861(dd) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 1395x(dd)); 

7 ‘‘(v) the term ‘hospice patient’ means an indi8 vidual receiving hospice care; and 

9 ‘‘(vi) the term ‘qualified hospice program’ 

10 means a hospice program that— 

11 ‘‘(I) has written policies and procedures for 

12 assisting in the disposal of a controlled sub13 stance of a hospice patient in each of the cases 

14 described in subparagraph (A)(ii); 

15 ‘‘(II) at the time when the controlled sub16 stance of a hospice patient is first ordered— 

17 ‘‘(aa) provides a copy of the written 

18 policies and procedures described in sub19 clause (I) to the hospice patient, or the 

20 representative of the hospice patient, and 

21 the family of the hospice patient; and 

22 ‘‘(bb) discusses the policies and proce23 dures described in subclause (I) with the 

24 hospice patient, or the representative of 

25 the hospice patient, and the family of the 


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1 hospice patient in a language and manner 

2 that those individuals understand to ensure 

3 that those individuals are educated regard4 ing the safe disposal of controlled sub5 stances; 

6 ‘‘(III) documents in the clinical record of 

7 the hospice patient that the written policies and 

8 procedures described in subclause (I) were pro9 vided and discussed; and 

10 ‘‘(IV) at the time when an employee of the 

11 hospice program disposes of a controlled sub12 stance of a hospice patient in a case described 

13 in subparagraph (A)(ii), documents the disposal 

14 in the clinical record of the hospice patient.’’. 

15 (b) NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED.—Section 302(c) 

16 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 822(c)) is 

17 amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(4) An employee of a qualified hospice pro19 gram or an emergency medical services professional, 

20 as those terms are defined in subsection (g)(5), who 

21 possesses the controlled substance for the purpose of 

22 assisting in the disposal of the controlled substance 

23 in accordance with subparagraph (A) of that sub24 section. 


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1 ‘‘(5) An employee of a hospice program, as de2 fined in subsection (g)(5), who possesses the con3 trolled substance for the purpose of assisting in the 

4 disposal of the controlled substance in accordance 

5 with a regulation issued under subparagraph (B) of 

6 that subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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