I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2872 

To amend the Controlled Substances Act to modernize the treatment of 

opioid addiction, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 24, 2015 

Mr. BUCSHON (for himself and Mr. WOMACK) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in 

addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Controlled Substances Act to modernize the 

treatment of opioid addiction, 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 ‘‘Opioid Addiction 

5 Treatment Modernization Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that opioid addiction has become 

8 a public health epidemic that must be addressed by inVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Jun 29, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2872.IH H2872

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1 creasing awareness and access to all treatment options for 

2 opioid addiction, overdose reversal, and relapse prevention. 

3 SEC. 3. OPIOID ADDICTION TREATMENT MODERNIZATION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 303(g) of the Controlled 

5 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823(g)) is amended— 

6 (1) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(3) The standards under paragraph (1)(A) (for de8 termining whether a practitioner is qualified to engage in 

9 the treatment with respect to which registration is sought) 

10 shall include a requirement for completion, every 2 years, 

11 of training— 

12 ‘‘(A) provided (through classroom situations, 

13 seminars at professional society meetings, electronic 

14 communications, or otherwise) by an organization 

15 such as the American Society of Addiction Medicine, 

16 the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, the 

17 American Medical Association, the American Osteo18 pathic Association, the American Psychiatric Asso19 ciation, the American Association for the Treatment 

20 of Opioid Dependence, the National Council for Be21 havioral Health, or any other organization that the 

22 Secretary determines is appropriate; and 

23 ‘‘(B) addressing— 

24 ‘‘(i) opioid detoxification; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) appropriate clinical use of all drugs 

2 approved by the Food and Drug Administration 

3 for the treatment of opioid addiction; 

4 ‘‘(iii) the need for initial and periodic as5 sessments of each patient; 

6 ‘‘(iv) the development of an individualized 

7 treatment plan for each patient; and 

8 ‘‘(v) the importance of providing overdose 

9 reversal and relapse prevention, and appro10 priate counseling and other services.’’; 

11 (2) in paragraph (2)(B), by inserting ‘‘and an12 nually thereafter,’’ after ‘‘before the initial dis13 pensing of narcotic drugs in schedule III, IV, or V 

14 or combinations of such drugs to patients for main15 tenance or detoxification treatment,’’; 

16 (3) by amending paragraph (2)(B)(ii) to read 

17 as follows: 

18 ‘‘(ii) With respect to patients to whom the prac19 titioner will provide such drugs or combinations of 

20 drugs, the practitioner has the capacity to provide 

21 directly or by referral— 

22 ‘‘(I) all drugs approved by the Food and 

23 Drug Administration for the treatment of 

24 opioid addiction, including, as available, opioid 


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1 maintenance, detoxification, and overdose rever2 sal and relapse prevention; and 

3 ‘‘(II) appropriate counseling and ancillary 

4 services.’’; 

5 (4) by redesignating clause (iii) of paragraph 

6 (2)(B) as clause (iv); 

7 (5) after paragraph (2)(B)(ii), by inserting the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(iii) The practitioner maintains a diversion 

10 control plan that contains specific measures to re11 duce the likelihood of the diversion of controlled sub12 stances prescribed by the practitioner for the treat13 ment of opioid addiction.’’; 

14 (6) by amending paragraph (2)(G)(ii) to read 

15 as follows: 

16 ‘‘(ii) The term ‘qualifying physician’ means 

17 a physician who meets the following: 

18 ‘‘(I) The physician is licensed under 

19 State law. 

20 ‘‘(II) The physician meets one or 

21 more of the following conditions: 

22 ‘‘(aa) The physician holds a sub23 specialty board certification in addic24 tion psychiatry from the American 

25 Board of Medical Specialties. 


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1 ‘‘(bb) The physician holds an ad2 diction certification from the Amer3 ican Society of Addiction Medicine. 

4 ‘‘(cc) The physician holds a sub5 specialty board certification in addic6 tion medicine from the American Os7 teopathic Association. 

8 ‘‘(dd) The physician has partici9 pated as an investigator in one or 

10 more clinical trials leading to the ap11 proval of a narcotic drug in schedule 

12 III, IV, or V for maintenance or de13 toxification treatment or the approval 

14 of a drug for the treatment of opioid 

15 addiction, as demonstrated by a state16 ment submitted to the Secretary by 

17 the sponsor of such approved drug. 

18 ‘‘(ee) The physician has such 

19 other training or experience as the 

20 State medical licensing board (of the 

21 State in which the physician will pro22 vide maintenance or detoxification 

23 treatment) considers to demonstrate 

24 the ability of the physician to treat 


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1 and manage opiate-dependent pa2 tients. 

3 ‘‘(ff) The physician has such 

4 other training or experience as the 

5 Secretary considers to demonstrate 

6 the ability of the physician to treat 

7 and manage opiate-dependent pa8 tients. Any criteria of the Secretary 

9 under this item shall be established by 

10 regulation. Any such criteria are ef11 fective only for 3 years after the date 

12 on which the criteria are promulgated, 

13 but may be extended for such addi14 tional discrete 3-year periods as the 

15 Secretary considers appropriate for 

16 purposes of this item. Such an exten17 sion of criteria may only be effec18 tuated through a statement published 

19 in the Federal Register by the Sec20 retary during the 30-day period pre21 ceding the end of the 3-year period in22 volved. 

23 ‘‘(iii) The physician completes, with respect 

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1 ing described in paragraph (3) not less fre2 quently than every 2 years. 

3 ‘‘(iv) The physician obtains in writing from 

4 each patient a signed acknowledgment that the 

5 patient— 

6 ‘‘(I) will be subject to medication ad7 herence and substance use monitoring; 

8 ‘‘(II) understands available treatment 

9 options, including drugs approved by the 

10 Food and Drug Administration for the 

11 treatment of opioid addiction and their po12 tential risks and benefits; and 

13 ‘‘(III) has an individualized treatment 

14 plan.’’; and 

15 (7) by amending paragraph (2)(H)(ii) to read 

16 as follows: 

17 ‘‘(ii) Not later than one year after the date of 

18 enactment of the Opioid Addiction Treatment Mod19 ernization Act, the Secretary shall update the treat20 ment improvement protocol containing best practice 

21 guidelines for the treatment of opiate-dependent pa22 tients. The Secretary shall update such protocol in 

23 consultation with the Director of the National Insti24 tute on Drug Abuse, the Administrator of the Drug 

25 Enforcement Administration, the Commissioner of 


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1 Food and Drugs, the Administrator of the Sub2 stance Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminis3 tration, and other substance abuse disorder profes4 sionals. Updates to the protocol shall be guided by 

5 science.’’. 

6 (b) INSPECTION AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of 

7 Health and Human Services or the Attorney General of 

8 the United States may inspect persons that are registered 

9 under section 303(g) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

10 U.S.C. 823(g)) to ensure compliance with the require11 ments in this Act (and the amendments made by this Act) 

12 with respect to which noncompliance may result in a rev13 ocation or suspension of the practitioner’s registration. 

14 (c) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE.—Not later 

15 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, all 

16 practitioners who, as of such date of enactment, are per17 mitted to dispense narcotic drugs to individuals (for main18 tenance treatment or detoxification treatment) pursuant 

19 to paragraph (1) or (2) of section 303(g) of the Controlled 

20 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823(g)) shall submit a certifi21 cation to the Secretary of Health and Human Services of 

22 compliance with the provisions of such section 303(g), as 

23 amended by this Act. 

24 (d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 


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

2 the date of enactment of this Act, and every 5 years 

3 thereafter, the Comptroller General of the United 

4 States shall— 

5 (A) perform a thorough review of the pro6 vision of opioid addiction treatment services in 

7 the United States; and 

8 (B) submit a report to the Congress on the 

9 findings and conclusions of such review. 

10 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report under paragraph 

11 (1) shall include— 

12 (A) an assessment of compliance with the 

13 requirements of section 303(g) of the Con14 trolled Substances Act, as amended by this Act; 

15 (B) a description of the measures taken by 

16 the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 

17 ensure such compliance; and 

18 (C) an assessment of— 

19 (i) whether the full range of science20 and evidence-based treatment options for 

21 opioid addiction are fully integrated into 

22 treatment; and 

23 (ii) the circumstances surrounding 

24 medication diversion and misuse. 

Æ 


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