II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3788 

To clarify Federal law to prohibit the dispensing, distribution, or administration 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 

AUGUST 3, 2006 

Mr. BROWNBACK 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, distribution, or administration 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 ‘‘Assisted Suicide Pre5 vention Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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•S 3788 IS

1 (1) the use of certain narcotics and other drugs 

2 or substances with a potential for abuse is strictly 

3 regulated under the Controlled Substances Act; 

4 (2) the dispensing, distribution, or administra5 tion of certain controlled substances only by properly 

6 registered practitioners and only for legitimate med7 ical purposes are permitted under the Controlled 

8 Substances Act; 

9 (3) the dispensing, distribution, or administra10 tion of controlled substances to assist suicide or eu11 thanasia are not legitimate medical purposes and are 

12 not permissible under the Controlled Substances 

13 Act; 

14 (4) the dispensing, distribution, or administra15 tion of controlled substances for the purpose of re16 lieving pain and discomfort are legitimate medical 

17 purposes and are permissible under the Controlled 

18 Substances Act; 

19 (5) inadequate treatment of pain, especially for 

20 chronic diseases, irreversible diseases such as cancer, 

21 and end-of-life care, is a serious public health prob22 lem affecting hundreds of thousands of patients 

23 every year and physicians should not hesitate to dis24 pense, distribute, or administer controlled substances 

25 when medically indicated for those conditions; and 


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1 (6) for the reasons set forth in section 101 of 

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

3 dispensing, distribution, or administration of con4 trolled substances for any purpose, including that of 

5 assisting suicide or euthanasia, affects interstate 

6 commerce. 

7 SEC. 3. USE OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES TO ASSIST SUI8 CIDE. 

9 Section 303 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

10 U.S.C. 823) is amended by adding at the end with the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(i)(1) It shall be unlawful for any practitioner to in13 tentionally dispense, distribute, or administer a controlled 

14 substance for the purpose of assisting suicide or causing 

15 the death of a person. 

16 ‘‘(2) Alleviating pain or discomfort in the usual 

17 course of professional practice is a legitimate medical pur18 pose for the dispensing, distributing, or administering of 

19 a controlled substance that is consistent with public health 

20 and safety, even if the use of such substance may increase 

21 the risk of death. 

22 ‘‘(3) Any practitioner who violates paragraph (1), 

23 upon a finding that a controlled substance was dispensed, 

24 distributed, or administered for the stated or undisputed 


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1 purpose of assisting suicide or causing the death of a per2 son— 

3 ‘‘(A) shall have any registration under this Act 

4 revoked; and 

5 ‘‘(B) shall not be registered under this Act. 

6 ‘‘(4) In any proceeding under this subsection, the At7 torney General shall have the burden of proving, by clear 

8 and convincing evidence, that the intent of the practitioner 

9 was to dispense, distribute, or administer a controlled sub10 stance for the purpose of assisting suicide or causing the 

11 death of a person. In meeting such burden, it shall not 

12 be sufficient to prove that the practitioner knew that the 

13 use of controlled substance may increase the risk of death. 

14 ‘‘(5) This subsection does not apply to dispensing or 

15 administering a controlled substance for the purpose of 

16 carrying out a criminal sentence of death that is author17 ized under Federal or State law. 

18 ‘‘(6)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), 

19 nothing in this subsection may be construed to— 

20 ‘‘(i) alter the roles of the Federal Government 

21 or State governments in regulating the practice of 

22 medicine, including that, regardless of whether the 

23 Attorney General determines under this subsection 

24 that a practitioner has violated paragraph (1), it re25 mains solely within the discretion of State authoriVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:17 Aug 05, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3788.IS S3788

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1 ties to determine whether action should be taken 

2 with respect to the State professional license of the 

3 practitioner or State prescribing privileges; 

4 ‘‘(ii) modify the Federal requirements that a 

5 controlled substance be dispensed only for a legiti6 mate medical purpose; or 

7 ‘‘(iii) provide the Attorney General with the au8 thority to issue national standards for pain manage9 ment and palliative care clinical practice, research, 

10 or quality. 

11 ‘‘(B) The Attorney General may take such actions as 

12 may be necessary to enforce this subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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