I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3974 

To require the use of prescription drug monitoring programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2019 

Mr. RYAN (for himself and Mr. BALDERSON) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To require the use of prescription drug monitoring programs. 

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 ‘‘Prescription Drug 

5 Monitoring Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REQUIRING THE USE OF PRESCRIPTION DRUG 

7 MONITORING PROGRAMS. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE.—The term 

10 ‘‘controlled substance’’ has the meaning given the 

11 term in section 102 of the Controlled Substances 

12 Act (21 U.S.C. 802). 


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1 (2) COVERED STATE.—The term ‘‘covered 

2 State’’ means a State that receives funding under 

3 the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring 

4 Program established under the Departments of 

5 Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and 

6 Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002 (Public 

7 Law 107–77; 115 Stat. 748), or under the con8 trolled substance monitoring program under section 

9 399O of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 280g–3). 

11 (3) DISPENSER.—The term ‘‘dispenser’’— 

12 (A) means a person licensed or otherwise 

13 authorized by a State to deliver a prescription 

14 drug product to a patient or an agent of the pa15 tient; and 

16 (B) does not include a person involved in 

17 oversight or payment for prescription drugs. 

18 (4) PDMP.—The term ‘‘PDMP’’ means a pre19 scription drug monitoring program. 

20 (5) PRACTITIONER.—The term ‘‘practitioner’’ 

21 means a practitioner registered under section 303(f) 

22 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823(f)) 

23 to prescribe, administer, or dispense controlled sub24 stances. 


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1 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

2 the several States and the District of Columbia. 

3 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Beginning 1 year after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, each covered State shall 

5 require— 

6 (1) each prescribing practitioner within the cov7 ered State or their designee, who shall be licensed or 

8 registered healthcare professionals or other employ9 ees who report directly to the practitioner, to consult 

10 the PDMP of the covered State before initiating 

11 treatment with a prescription for a controlled sub12 stance listed in schedule II, III, or IV of section 

13 202(c) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 

14 812(c)), and every 3 months thereafter as long as 

15 the treatment continues; 

16 (2) the PDMP of the covered State to provide 

17 proactive notification to a practitioner when patterns 

18 indicative of controlled substance misuse, including 

19 opioid misuse, are detected; 

20 (3) each dispenser within the covered State to 

21 report each prescription for a controlled substance 

22 dispensed by the dispenser to the PDMP not later 

23 than 24 hours after the controlled substance is dis24 pensed to the patient; 


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1 (4) that the PDMP make available a quarterly 

2 de-identified data set and an annual report for pub3 lic and private use, including use by healthcare pro4 viders, health plans and health benefits administra5 tors, State agencies, and researchers, which shall, at 

6 a minimum, meet requirements established by the 

7 Attorney General, in coordination with the Secretary 

8 of Health and Human Services; 

9 (5) each State agency that administers the 

10 PDMP to— 

11 (A) proactively analyze data available 

12 through the PDMP; and 

13 (B) provide reports to law enforcement 

14 agencies and prescriber licensing boards de15 scribing any prescribing practitioner that re16 peatedly fall outside of expected norms or 

17 standard practices for the prescribing practi18 tioner’s field; and 

19 (6) that the data contained in the PDMP of the 

20 covered State be made available to other States. 

21 (c) NONCOMPLIANCE.—If a covered State fails to 

22 comply with subsection (a), the Attorney General or the 

23 Secretary of Health and Human Services may withhold 

24 grant funds from being awarded to the covered State 

25 under the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring 


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1 Program established under the Departments of Com2 merce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related 

3 Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002 (Public Law 107–77; 

4 115 Stat. 748), or under the controlled substance moni5 toring program under section 399O of the Public Health 

6 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280g–3). 

Æ 


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