I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 993 

To reduce opioid misuse and abuse. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2017 

Mr. FOSTER (for himself, Mr. SWALWELL of California, and Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To reduce opioid misuse and abuse. 

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 Abuse Preven5 tion and Treatment Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PILOT PROJECT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

8 Human Services (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec9 retary’’) shall award grants to one or more States to carry 

10 out a 1-year pilot project to develop a standardized peer 

11 review process and methodology to review and evaluate 


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1 prescribing and pharmacy dispensing patterns, through a 

2 review of prescription drug monitoring programs (referred 

3 to in this section as ‘‘PDMP’’) in the States receiving such 

4 grants. 

5 (b) METHODOLOGY.—The recipients of a grant under 

6 this section shall develop a systematic, standardized meth7 odology to identify and investigate questionable or inap8 propriate prescribing and dispensing patterns of sub9 stances on schedule II or III under section 202 of the Con10 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812). Such peer review 

11 methodology and prescribing and dispensing patterns shall 

12 be shared with the appropriate State regulators and health 

13 profession boards. 

14 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—A State receiving a grant 

15 under this section— 

16 (1) with respect to controlled substances for 

17 which a prescriber is required to be registered with 

18 by the Drug Enforcement Administration in order to 

19 prescribe such controlled substances, shall make the 

20 information with respect to such controlled sub21 stances from the PDMP available to State regu22 lators and licensing boards; and 

23 (2) with respect to any other controlled sub24 stances, may make the information with respect to 


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1 such controlled substances from the PDMP available 

2 to State regulators and licensing boards. 

3 (d) SUBGRANTEES.—A quality improvement organi4 zation with which the Secretary has entered into a con5 tract under part B of title XI of the Social Security Act 

6 (42 U.S.C. 1320c et seq.) may serve as the subgrantee 

7 under this subsection to develop peer review processes as 

8 described in subsection (a). 

9 SEC. 3. PRESCRIPTION DRUG, HEROIN, AND OTHER CON10 TROLLED SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION. 

11 Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

12 (42 U.S.C. 280g) is amended by adding at the end the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 399V–7. PRESCRIPTION DRUG, HEROIN, AND OTHER 

15 CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVEN16 TION. 

17 ‘‘(a) TRAINING GRANTS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

19 5-year grants to eligible entities to facilitate training 

20 in order to increase the capacity of health care pro21 viders to conduct patient screening, brief interven22 tions, and referral to treatment as needed, such as 

23 in health care settings to prevent the abuse of pre24 scription drugs, heroin, and other controlled sub25 stances. The grant program under this section may 


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1 be coordinated with the Screening Brief Intervention 

2 and Referral to Treatment grant program of the 

3 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Ad4 ministration, or other appropriate programs. 

5 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—In this subsection, 

6 the term ‘eligible entity’ includes— 

7 ‘‘(A) States; 

8 ‘‘(B) physician organizations; 

9 ‘‘(C) continuing education entities, such as 

10 health profession boards or health accrediting 

11 bodies; 

12 ‘‘(D) peer recovery organizations; and 

13 ‘‘(E) other appropriate health or profes14 sional education organizations or institutions. 

15 ‘‘(b) EXPANSION OF PRESCRIBING AUTHORITY.— 

16 The Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the 

17 Health Resources and Services Administration, shall 

18 award grants to States for the purpose of evaluating the 

19 prospect of the health professions board of such States 

20 reviewing and expanding prescribing authorities of pro21 viders, such as advance practice nurses and physician’s as22 sistants, with respect to prescribing drugs for the treat23 ment of the abuse of prescription drugs, heroin, or other 

24 controlled substances.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE TRAINING AND 

2 SCREENING PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) CONTINUING EDUCATION GRANTS.—The Sec4 retary shall award grants to States to develop continuing 

5 education criteria and review processes that allow State 

6 health profession boards or State agencies to certify ap7 propriate education and training for informed and safe 

8 prescribing of opioids and other drugs listed on schedule 

9 II or III under section 202 of the Controlled Substances 

10 Act (21 U.S.C. 812). 

11 (b) SCREENING PROGRAM.—The Attorney General 

12 shall request that a practitioner registered under section 

13 303(f) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 

14 823(f)) conduct patient screening for potential drug mis15 use or abuse before prescribing a drug listed on schedule 

16 II or III under section 202 of the Controlled Substances 

17 Act (21 U.S.C. 812), according to standards established 

18 by the applicable State licensing body. 

19 SEC. 5. FDA REVIEW OF NALOXONE. 

20 The Secretary, acting through the Commissioner of 

21 Food and Drugs, shall conduct a review of naloxone to 

22 consider whether naloxone should cease to be subject to 

23 section 503(b) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 

24 Act (21 U.S.C. 353(b)) and be available as an over-the25 counter drug, in order to increase access to such drug. 


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1 SEC. 6. PRESCRIPTION OPIATE DISPOSAL. 

2 The Secretary shall convene or coordinate with an ex3 isting entity an interagency working group— 

4 (1) to encourage States and local governments 

5 to increase opportunities for disposal of opiates, such 

6 as frequent ‘‘take-back programs’’ and fixed medi7 cine disposal sites at law enforcement public build8 ings; and 

9 (2) to reduce opportunities for abuse of opiates, 

10 such as establishing opioid dispensing limits at hos11 pital emergency departments. 

12 SEC. 7. GAO REPORT. 

13 The Comptroller General of the United States shall— 

14 (1) review opioid abuse programs, heroin abuse 

15 programs, and policies in Federal agencies and best 

16 practices with respect to opioid and heroin abuse 

17 and overdose programs of the States; and 

18 (2) not later than 18 months after the date of 

19 enactment of this Act, issue a report to Congress on 

20 its findings and recommendations on ways to reduce 

21 opioid and heroin abuse and overdoses. 

Æ 


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