II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2151

To clarify Federal law to prohibit the dispensing or distribution of a controlled

substance for the purpose of causing, or assisting in causing, the suicide,

euthanasia, or mercy killing of any individual.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 9, 1998

Mr. NICKLES (for himself, Mr. LOTT, Mr. COATS, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. HELMS,

Mr. MURKOWSKI, Mr. GRAMS, Mr. FAIRCLOTH, Mr. BOND, Mr. ENZI,

Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. HAGEL, and Mr. COVERDELL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To clarify Federal law to prohibit the dispensing or distribution of a controlled substance for the purpose of causing,

or assisting in causing, the suicide, euthanasia, or mercy

killing of any individual.

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 ‘‘Lethal Drug Abuse

5 Prevention Act of 1998’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the use of certain narcotics and other dan2 gerous drugs is generally prohibited under the Con3 trolled Substances Act;

4 (2) under the Controlled Substances Act and

5 implementing regulations, an exception to this gen6 eral prohibition permits the dispensing and distribu7 tion of certain controlled substances by properly reg8 istered physicians for legitimate medical purposes;

9 (3) the dispensing or distribution of controlled

10 substances to assist suicide is not a legitimate medi11 cal purpose and should not be construed to be per12 missible under the Controlled Substances Act;

13 (4) the dispensing or distribution of certain

14 controlled substances for the purpose of relieving

15 pain and discomfort is a legitimate medical purpose

16 under the Controlled Substances Act and physicians

17 should not hesitate to dispense or distribute them

18 for that purpose when medically indicated; and

19 (5) for the reasons set forth in section 101 of

20 the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801), the

21 dispensing and distribution of controlled substances

22 for any purpose, including that of assisting suicide,

23 affects interstate commerce.

24 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
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1 (1) to provide explicitly that Federal law is not

2 intended to license the dispensing or distribution of

3 a controlled substance with a purpose of causing, or

4 assisting in causing, the suicide, euthanasia, or

5 mercy killing of any individual; and

6 (2) to encourage physicians to prescribe con7 trolled substances as medically appropriate in order

8 to relieve pain and discomfort, by reducing unwar9 ranted concerns that their registration to prescribe

10 controlled substances will thereby be put at risk, if

11 there is no intent to cause a patient’s death.

12 SEC. 3. LETHAL DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION.

13 (a) DENIAL OF REGISTRATION.—Section 303 of the

14 Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823) is amended

15 by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(i) DENIAL OF REGISTRATION.—The Attorney Gen17 eral shall determine that registration of an applicant

18 under this section is inconsistent with the public interest

19 if—

20 ‘‘(1) during the 5-year period immediately pre21 ceding the date on which the application is submit22 ted under this section, the registration of the appli23 cant under this section was revoked under section

24 304(a)(4); or
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1 ‘‘(2) the Attorney General determines, based on

2 clear and convincing evidence, that the applicant is

3 applying for the registration with the intention of

4 using the registration to take any action that would

5 constitute a violation of section 304(a)(4).’’.

6 (b) SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF REGISTRA7 TION.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 304(a) of the Con9 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 824(a)) is amend10 ed—

11 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and

12 (5) as paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; and

13 (B) by inserting after paragraph (3) the

14 following:

15 ‘‘(4) has intentionally dispensed or distributed a

16 controlled substance with a purpose of causing, or

17 assisting in causing, the suicide, euthanasia, or

18 mercy killing of any individual, except that this

19 paragraph does not apply to the dispensing or dis20 tribution of a controlled substance for the purpose of

21 relieving pain or discomfort (even if the use of the

22 controlled substance may increase the risk of death),

23 so long as the controlled substance is not also dis24 pensed or distributed for the purpose of causing, or
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1 assisting in causing, the death of an individual for

2 any reason;’’.

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section

4 304(a)(5) of the Controlled Substances Act (21

5 U.S.C. 824(a)(5)) (as redesignated by paragraph (1)

6 of this subsection) is amended by inserting ‘‘other’’

7 after ‘‘such’’.

8 (c) PAIN RELIEF.—Section 304(c) of the Controlled

9 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 824(c)) is amended—

10 (1) by striking ‘‘(c) Before’’ and inserting the

11 following:

12 ‘‘(c) PROCEDURES.—

13 ‘‘(1) ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE.—After any hear14 ing under paragraph (2), and before’’; and

15 (2) by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(2) MEDICAL REVIEW BOARD ON PAIN RE17 LIEF.—

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General

19 shall by regulation establish a board to be

20 known as the Medical Review Board on Pain

21 Relief (referred to in this subsection as the

22 ‘Board’).

23 ‘‘(B) MEMBERSHIP.—The Attorney Gen24 eral shall appoint the members of the Board—
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1 ‘‘(i) from among individuals who, by

2 reason of specialized education or substan3 tial relevant experience in pain manage4 ment, are clinical experts with knowledge

5 regarding standards, practices, and guide6 lines concerning pain relief; and

7 ‘‘(ii) after consultation with the Amer8 ican Medical Association, the American

9 Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medi10 cine, the National Hospice Organization,

11 the American Geriatrics Society, and such

12 other entities with relevant expertise con13 cerning pain relief, as the Attorney Gen14 eral determines to be appropriate.

15 ‘‘(C) DUTIES OF BOARD.—

16 ‘‘(i) HEARING.—If an applicant or

17 registrant claims that any action (or, in

18 the case of a proposed denial under section

19 303(i)(2), any potential action) that is a

20 basis of a proposed denial under section

21 303(i), or a proposed revocation or suspen22 sion under subsection (a)(4) of this sec23 tion, is an appropriate means to relieve

24 pain that does not constitute a violation of

25 subsection (a)(4) of this section, the appli-
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1 cant or registrant may seek a hearing be2 fore the Board on that issue.

3 ‘‘(ii) FINDINGS.—Based on a hearing

4 under clause (i), the Board shall make

5 findings regarding whether the action at

6 issue is an appropriate means to relieve

7 pain that does not constitute a violation of

8 subsection (a)(4). The findings of the

9 Board under this clause shall be admissible

10 in any hearing pursuant to an order to

11 show cause under paragraph (1).’’.

12 SEC. 4. CONSTRUCTION.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act or the amend14 ments made by this Act shall be construed to imply that

15 the dispensing or distribution of a controlled substance be16 fore the date of enactment of this Act for the purpose of

17 causing, or assisting in causing, the suicide, euthanasia,

18 or mercy killing of any individual is not a violation of the

19 Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.).

20 (b) INCORPORATED DEFINITIONS.—In this section,

21 the terms ‘‘controlled substance’’, ‘‘dispense’’, and ‘‘dis22 tribute’’ have the meanings given those terms in section

23 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802).

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