Opioid Prescription Verification Act of 2021

To facilitate responsible, informed dispensing of controlled substances and other prescribed medications, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Opioid Prescription Verification Act of 2021 2. Materials for training pharmacists on certain circumstances under which a pharmacist may decline to fill a prescription (a) Updates to materials Section 3212(a) of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act ( 21 U.S.C. 829 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall develop and disseminate The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall develop and disseminate not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and update periodically thereafter (b) Materials included Section 3212(b) of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act ( 21 U.S.C. 829 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; and (2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so redesignated, the following new paragraph: (1) pharmacists on how to verify the identity of the patient; . (c) Materials for training on patient verification Section 3212 of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act ( 21 U.S.C. 829 (d) Materials for training on verification of identity Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, after seeking stakeholder input in accordance with subsection (c), shall— (1) update the materials developed under subsection (a) to include information for pharmacists on how to verify the identity the patient; and (2) disseminate, as appropriate, the updated materials. . 3. Incentivizing States To facilitate responsible, informed dispensing of controlled substances (a) In general Section 392A of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 280b–1 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new subsection: (c) Preference In determining the amounts of grants awarded to States under subsections (a) and (b), the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may give preference to States in accordance with such criteria as the Director may specify and may choose to give preference to States that— (1) maintain a prescription drug monitoring program; (2) require prescribers of controlled substances in schedule II, III, or IV to issue such prescriptions electronically, and make such requirement subject to exceptions in the cases listed in section 1860D–4(e)(7)(B) of the Social Security Act; and (3) require dispensers of such controlled substances to enter certain information about the purchase of such controlled substances into the respective State’s prescription drug monitoring program, including— (A) the National Drug Code or, in the case of compounded medications, compound identifier; (B) the quantity dispensed; (C) the patient identifier; and (D) the date filled. . (b) Definitions Subsection (d) of section 392A of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 280b–1 (d) Definitions In this section: (1) Controlled substance The term controlled substance (2) Dispenser The term dispenser (3) Indian tribe The term Indian tribe . November 30, 2021 Reported with an amendment; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

Summary: Opioid Prescription Verification Act of 2021 This bill modifies overdose prevention activities carried out by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Specifically, HHS must update pharmacist training materials to include information about how to verify the identity of patients who are prescribed medications. In addition, the CDC may give preference, in awarding grants for overdose prevention, to states that maintain a prescription drug monitoring program that mandates the collection of specified information, require prescribers of certain potentially addictive medications to issue prescriptions electronically (subject to some exceptions), and require dispensers of certain potentially addictive medications to enter particular information about the purchase of such medications into their state's prescription drug monitoring program.