II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3575 

To amend and reauthorize the controlled substance monitoring program under 

section 399O of the Public Health Service Act and to authorize the 

Secretary of Veterans Affairs to share information about the use of 

controlled substances by veterans with State prescription monitoring programs to prevent misuse and diversion of prescription medicines. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 13, 2010 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. DODD, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. 

VITTER, and Mr. ALEXANDER) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend and reauthorize the controlled substance monitoring program under section 399O of the Public Health 

Service Act and to authorize the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to share information about the use of controlled 

substances by veterans with State prescription monitoring programs to prevent misuse and diversion of prescription medicines. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National All Schedules 

3 Prescription Electronic Reporting Reauthorization Act of 

4 2010’’. 

5 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO PURPOSE. 

6 Paragraph (1) of section 2 of the National All Sched7 ules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act of 2005 (Public 

8 Law 109–60) is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(1) foster the establishment of State-adminis10 tered controlled substance monitoring systems in 

11 order to ensure that— 

12 ‘‘(A) health care providers have access to 

13 the accurate, timely prescription history infor14 mation that they may use as a tool for the early 

15 identification of patients at risk for addiction in 

16 order to initiate appropriate medical interven17 tions and avert the tragic personal, family, and 

18 community consequences of untreated addiction; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(B) appropriate law enforcement, regu21 latory, and State professional licensing authori22 ties have access to prescription history informa23 tion for the purposes of investigating drug di24 version and prescribing and dispensing prac25 tices of errant prescribers or pharmacists; and’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE MONI2 TORING PROGRAM. 

3 Section 399O of the Public Health Service Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 280g–3) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

6 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’; 

7 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 

8 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

9 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(C) to maintain and operate an existing 

11 State controlled substance monitoring pro12 gram.’’; 

13 (2) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol14 lows: 

15 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 

16 shall maintain and, as appropriate, supplement or revise 

17 (after publishing proposed additions and revisions in the 

18 Federal Register and receiving public comments thereon) 

19 minimum requirements for criteria to be used by States 

20 for purposes of clauses (ii), (v), (vi), and (vii) of subsection 

21 (c)(1)(A).’’; 

22 (3) in subsection (c)— 

23 (A) in paragraph (1)(B)— 

24 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 

25 by striking ‘‘(a)(1)(B)’’ and inserting 

26 ‘‘(a)(1)(B) or (a)(1)(C)’’; 


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1 (ii) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘program 

2 to be improved’’ and inserting ‘‘program to 

3 be improved or maintained’’; and 

4 (iii) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘public 

5 health’’ and inserting ‘‘public health or 

6 public safety’’; 

7 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘If a State that sub9 mits’’ and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a State that sub11 mits’’; 

12 (ii) by inserting before the period at 

13 the end ‘‘and include timelines for full im14 plementation of such interoperability’’; and 

15 (iii) by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(B) MONITORING OF EFFORTS.—The 

18 Secretary shall monitor State efforts to achieve 

19 interoperability, as described in subparagraph 

20 (A).’’; 

21 (C) in paragraph (5)— 

22 (i) by striking ‘‘implement or im23 prove’’ and inserting ‘‘establish, improve, 

24 or maintain’’; and 


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1 (ii) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: ‘‘The Secretary shall redistribute 

3 any funds that are so returned among the 

4 remaining grantees under this section in 

5 accordance with the formula described in 

6 subsection (a)(2)(B).’’; 

7 (4) in the matter preceding paragraph (1) in 

8 subsection (d), by striking ‘‘In implementing or im9 proving’’ all that follows through ‘‘with the fol10 lowing:’’ and inserting ‘‘In establishing, improving, 

11 or maintaining a controlled substance monitoring 

12 program under this section, a State shall comply, or 

13 with respect to a State that applies for a grant 

14 under subsection (a)(1)(B) or (C) submit to the Sec15 retary for approval a statement of why such compli16 ance is not feasible and a plan for bringing the State 

17 into compliance, with the following:’’; 

18 (5) in subsections (e), (f)(1), and (g), by strik19 ing ‘‘implementing or improving’’ each place it ap20 pears and inserting ‘‘establishing, improving, or 

21 maintaining’’; 

22 (6) in subsection (f)— 

23 (A) in paragraph (1)(B) by striking ‘‘mis24 use of a schedule II, III, or IV substance’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘misuse of a controlled substance inVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:20 Jul 14, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3575.IS S3575

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1 cluded in schedule II, III, or IV of section 

2 202(c) of the Controlled Substance Act’’; and 

3 (B) add at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(3) EVALUATION AND REPORTING.—Subject 

5 to subsection (g), a State receiving a grant under 

6 subsection (a) shall provide the Secretary with ag7 gregate data and other information determined by 

8 the Secretary to be necessary to enable the Sec9 retary— 

10 ‘‘(A) to evaluate the success of the State’s 

11 program in achieving its purposes; or 

12 ‘‘(B) to prepare and submit the report to 

13 Congress required by subsection (k)(2). 

14 ‘‘(4) RESEARCH BY OTHER ENTITIES.—A de15 partment, program, or administration receiving non16 identifiable information under paragraph (1)(D) 

17 may make such information available to other enti18 ties for research purposes.’’; 

19 (7) by redesignating subsections (h) through 

20 (n) as subsections (i) through (o), respectively; 

21 (8) in subsections (c)(1)(A)(iv) and (d)(4), by 

22 striking ‘‘subsection (h)’’ each place it appears and 

23 inserting ‘‘subsection (i)’’; 

24 (9) by inserting after subsection (g) the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(h) EDUCATION AND ACCESS TO THE MONITORING

2 SYSTEM.—A State receiving a grant under subsection (a) 

3 shall take steps to— 

4 ‘‘(1) facilitate prescriber use of the State’s con5 trolled substance monitoring system; and 

6 ‘‘(2) educate prescribers on the benefits of the 

7 system both to them and society.’’; 

8 (10) in subsection (m)(1), as redesignated, by 

9 striking ‘‘establishment, implementation, or improve10 ment’’ and inserting ‘‘establishment, improvement, 

11 or maintenance’’; 

12 (11) in subsection (n)(8), as redesignated, by 

13 striking ‘‘and the District of Columbia’’ and insert14 ing ‘‘, the District of Columbia, and any common15 wealth or territory of the United States’’; and 

16 (12) by amending subsection (o), as redesig17 nated, to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(o) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—To carry 

19 out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated 

20 $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2011 and $10,000,000 for 

21 each of fiscal years 2012 through 2015.’’. 

22 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 38. 

23 (a) EXCEPTION WITH RESPECT TO CONFIDENTIAL

24 NATURE OF CLAIMS.—Section 5701 of title 38, United 


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1 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing new subsection: 

3 ‘‘(l) Under regulations the Secretary shall prescribe, 

4 the Secretary may disclose information about a veteran 

5 or the dependant of a veteran to a State controlled sub6 stance monitoring program, including a program approved 

7 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under 

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

9 280g–3), to the extent necessary to prevent misuse and 

10 diversion of prescription medicines.’’. 

11 (b) EXCEPTION WITH RESPECT TO CONFIDEN12 TIALITY OF CERTAIN MEDICAL RECORDS.—Section 

13 7332(b)(2) of such title is amended by adding at the end 

14 the following new subparagraph: 

15 ‘‘(G) To a State controlled substance moni16 toring program, including a program approved by 

17 the Secretary of Health and Human Services under 

18 section 399O of the Public Health Service Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 280g–3), to the extent necessary to prevent 

20 misuse and diversion of prescription medicines.’’. 

21 (c) REPORT.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

23 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec24 retary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress 

25 a report on the participation of the Department of 


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1 Veterans Affairs in State controlled substance moni2 toring programs, including programs approved by 

3 the Secretary of Health and Human Services under 

4 section 399O of the Public Health Service Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 280g–3). 

6 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para7 graph (1) shall include the following: 

8 (A) A summary of the activities of the De9 partment of Veterans Affairs relating to pro10 grams described in paragraph (1). 

11 (B) A list of the programs described in 

12 paragraph (1) in which the Department is par13 ticipating. 

14 (C) A description of how the Secretary de15 termines which programs described in para16 graph (1) in which to participate. 

17 (D) The status of the regulations, if any, 

18 prescribed by the Secretary under section 

19 5701(l) of title 38, United States Code, as 

20 added by subsection (a) of this section. 

Æ 


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