I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5581 

To require training for prescribers of controlled substances, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 23, 2018 

Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana (for herself and Mr. SCHNEIDER) 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 require training for prescribers of controlled substances, 

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 ‘‘Abuse Deterrent and 

5 Prescriber Training Act of 2018’’ or the ‘‘ADAPT Act of 

6 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PRACTITIONER EDUCATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part C of the Controlled Sub3 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 821 et seq.) is amended— 

4 (1) in section 303 (21 U.S.C. 823), by adding 

5 at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(k)(1) The Attorney General shall not register, or 

7 renew the registration of, a practitioner under subsection 

8 (f) who is licensed under State law to prescribe controlled 

9 substances in schedule II, III, IV, or V, unless the practi10 tioner submits to the Attorney General, for each such reg11 istration or renewal request, a written certification that 

12 the practitioner has completed 3 hours of training under 

13 a training program meeting the criteria in paragraph (2) 

14 during the period applicable under paragraph (5). 

15 ‘‘(2) A training program meets the criteria in this 

16 paragraph if the program— 

17 ‘‘(A) includes information on— 

18 ‘‘(i) safe opioid prescribing guidelines, in19 cluding the Guideline for Prescribing Opioids 

20 for Chronic Pain issued by the Centers for Dis21 ease Control and Prevention; 

22 ‘‘(ii) the risks of opioid medications and 

23 other prescription drugs that are controlled sub24 stances; 

25 ‘‘(iii) pain management, including the need 

26 to provide individualized care particularly for 


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1 active cancer treatment, palliative care, and 

2 end-of-life care; 

3 ‘‘(iv) early detection of opioid and other 

4 substance use disorders; 

5 ‘‘(v) the risks of prescribing opioids to any 

6 individual in recovery from a substance use dis7 order; 

8 ‘‘(vi) a basic understanding of addiction; 

9 ‘‘(vii) the treatment of opioid-dependent 

10 patients and their treatment options; 

11 ‘‘(viii) the risks of misuse of all prescrip12 tion drugs that are controlled substances; and 

13 ‘‘(ix) alternative non-opioid pain manage14 ment medications and other effective treat15 ments; and 

16 ‘‘(B) is— 

17 ‘‘(i) approved by the State agency with pri18 mary responsibility for licensing the practitioner 

19 to prescribe controlled substances; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) if such State agency does not have in 

21 effect an approval of any training program for 

22 purposes of this subsection, conforms to the 

23 model training program in effect under para24 graph (4). 


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1 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), a training pro2 gram on prescribing opioids used by a State for purposes 

3 of licensing health care practitioners is deemed to meet 

4 the criteria in paragraph (2) if the program has been in 

5 effect since before the date of enactment of the Abuse De6 terrent and Prescriber Training Act of 2018. 

7 ‘‘(4) The Secretary of Health and Human Services 

8 shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) by not later than 60 days after the date 

10 of enactment of the Abuse Deterrent and Prescriber 

11 Training Act of 2018, develop a model training pro12 gram on prescribing opioids to be used for purposes 

13 of paragraph (2)(B)(ii); and 

14 ‘‘(B) by not later than 90 days after such date 

15 of enactment, provide information about such model 

16 training program to the Attorney General, pre17 scribers, State licensing boards, and continuing med18 ical education providers. 

19 ‘‘(5)(A) In the case of a registration request, and in 

20 the case of the first renewal request of a practitioner after 

21 the date of enactment of the Abuse Deterrent and Pre22 scriber Training Act of 2018, the training required by 

23 paragraph (1) shall occur during the 1-year period pre24 ceding the registration or first renewal request. 


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1 ‘‘(B) In the case of a renewal request that is not the 

2 first renewal request of a practitioner after such date of 

3 enactment, the training required by paragraph (1) shall 

4 occur during the 3-year period preceding the renewal re5 quest. 

6 ‘‘(6) The Attorney General may— 

7 ‘‘(A) take steps necessary to verify that a prac8 titioner has completed a training program as re9 quired under paragraph (1), including requiring a 

10 practitioner to provide information determined nec11 essary by the Attorney General; and 

12 ‘‘(B) investigate a practitioner described in 

13 paragraph (1) if the Attorney General has reason to 

14 believe the practitioner filed an inaccurate or fraud15 ulent written certification under paragraph (1). 

16 ‘‘(7) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 

17 prevent a practitioner from using the same training both 

18 for purposes of satisfying the registration requirements of 

19 this subsection and for other purposes, such as satisfying 

20 State licensing requirements.’’; and 

21 (2) in section 304(a) (21 U.S.C. 824(a)), by 

22 adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘A registration pursuant to section 303(f) issued to a 

24 practitioner who is required to comply with section 303(k) 

25 may be denied or revoked by the Attorney General upon 


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1 a finding that the practitioner has failed to comply with 

2 section 303(k).’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 180 

5 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

6 (c) SUNSET.—Effective on the date that is 5 years 

7 after the date of enactment of this Act, the following pro8 visions are repealed: 

9 (1) Subsection (k) of section 303 of the Con10 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823), as added by 

11 subsection (a)(1) of this section. 

12 (2) The sentence added by subsection (a)(2) of 

13 this section to the end of section 304(a) of such Act 

14 (21 U.S.C. 824(a)). 

15 SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

16 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

17 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

18 shall submit a report to Congress on the effects of this 

19 Act and the amendments made by this Act, including an 

20 analysis of— 

21 (1) whether there has been a reduction in the 

22 volume of opioids prescribed; 

23 (2) whether there has been an increase in the 

24 likelihood that opioid-dependent patients receive sub25 stance use disorder treatment; 


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1 (3) whether there has been a reduction in 

2 opioid-related overdoses and deaths; 

3 (4) whether training required by this Act and 

4 the amendments made by this Act has changed pre5 scribing practices and increased patient referrals to 

6 treatment; and 

7 (5) the extent to which prescribers have con8 formed their practices to those recommended in 

9 training pursuant to this Act and the amendments 

10 made by this Act. 

Æ 


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