I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6779 
To amend the Controlled Substances Act to require the Drug Enforcement 
Administration to report certain information on distribution of opioids, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 
Mr. BUCK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judi-
ciary, 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 amend the Controlled Substances Act to require the Drug 
Enforcement Administration to report certain informa-
tion on distribution of opioids, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Using Data to Prevent 
Opioid Diversion Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) In 2016, there were nearly 64,000 drug 
overdose deaths in the United States. More than 
42,000 of these deaths were opioid-related. 
(2) The regulations promulgated under the 
Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) 
require drug manufacturers and distributors to— 
(A) provide effective controls against the 
diversion of controlled substances; 
(B) detect and disclose suspicious orders to 
the Drug Enforcement Administration; and 
(C) keep complete and accurate records re-
lating to the manufacture or distribution of 
controlled substances. 
(3) Despite the requirements described in para-
graph (2), it has been publicly reported that between 
2006 and 2016, nearly 21,000,000 opioids were dis-
tributed to 2 pharmacies in Williamson, West Vir-
ginia, which has a population of approximately 
3,000. It has been further reported that between 
2007 and 2008, nearly 9,000,000 pills were distrib-
uted to a single pharmacy in Kermit, West Virginia, 
which has a population of 392. 
(4) Similarly, it has been publicly reported that 
780,000,000 oxycodone and hydrocodone pills were 
distributed to pharmacies throughout West Virginia 
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between 2007 and 2012. In the same period, more 
than 1,700 people in the State died from overdoses 
of these 2 substances. 
(5) Drug manufacturers and distributors are 
required to report the sale, delivery or other disposal 
of narcotics to the Drug Enforcement Administra-
tion through the Automated Reports and Consoli-
dated Orders System. 
(6) Notwithstanding the reporting requirement 
described in paragraph (5), the Drug Enforcement 
Administration does not disclose the total quantity 
and type of opioids distributed to a single pharmacy 
or practitioner with those manufacturers and dis-
tributors who are required to input information into 
the Automated Reports and Consolidated Orders 
System. This creates a barrier to identifying and 
stopping potentially suspicious orders. 
(7) Although manufacturers and distributors 
are already required to provide effective controls 
against the diversion of controlled substances, this 
lack of data sharing may create a barrier to better 
identifying and stopping potentially suspicious or-
ders. 
(8) On an annual basis, the Attorney General 
of the United States is statutorily required to share 
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the controlled substance or substances in schedule II 
that have the highest rates of abuse and to prepare 
and make available reports on the distribution pat-
terns of such substances, with State regulatory, li-
censing, and law enforcement agencies. The Attor-
ney General of the United States has entered into 
data sharing agreements with the attorneys general 
of the vast majority of States, Puerto Rico, and the 
District of Colombia to share, pursuant to State law 
and policy, data obtained from State prescription 
drug monitoring programs and other sources. 
(9) To further reduce barriers associated with 
identifying suspicious patterns and stopping the di-
version of opioids, the remaining States and terri-
tories of the United States should enter into similar 
agreements with, and to the greatest extent practical 
share data obtained from State prescription drug 
monitoring programs with, the Attorney General of 
the United States. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The purpose of this Act is to pro-
vide drug manufacturers and distributors with access to 
anonymized information through the Automated Reports 
and Consolidated Orders System to help drug manufactur-
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ers and distributors identify, report, and stop suspicious 
orders of opioids and reduce diversion rates. 
(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 
should be construed to absolve a drug manufacturer, drug 
distributor, or other Drug Enforcement Administration 
registrant from the responsibility of the manufacturer, dis-
tributor, or other registrant to— 
(1) identify, stop, and report suspicious orders; 
or 
(2) maintain effective controls against diversion 
in accordance with section 303 of the Controlled 
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823) or any successor 
law or associated regulation. 
SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS. 
(a) RECORDS AND REPORTS OF REGISTRANTS.—Sec-
tion 307 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 827) 
is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsections (f), (g), and 
(h) as subsections (g), (h), and (i), respectively; 
(2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(f)(1) The Attorney General shall, not less fre-
quently than quarterly, make the following information 
available to manufacturer and distributor registrants 
through the Automated Reports and Consolidated Orders 
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System, or any subsequent automated system developed 
by the Drug Enforcement Administration to monitor se-
lected controlled substances: 
‘‘(A) The total number of distributor reg-
istrants that distribute controlled substances to a 
pharmacy or practitioner registrant, aggregated by 
the name and address of each pharmacy and practi-
tioner registrant. 
‘‘(B) The total quantity and type of opioids dis-
tributed, listed by Administration Controlled Sub-
stances Code Number, to each pharmacy and practi-
tioner registrant described in subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(2) The information required to be made available 
under paragraph (1) shall be made available not later than 
the 15th day of the first month following the quarter to 
which the information relates. 
‘‘(3)(A) All registered manufacturers and distributors 
shall be responsible for reviewing the information made 
available by the Attorney General under this subsection. 
‘‘(B) In determining whether to initiate proceedings 
under this title against a registered manufacturer or dis-
tributor based on the failure of the registrant to maintain 
effective controls against diversion or otherwise comply 
with the requirements of this title or the regulations issued 
thereunder, the Attorney General may take into account 
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that the information made available under this subsection 
was available to the registrant.’’; and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (i), as so re-
designated, the following: 
‘‘(j) All of the reports required under this section 
shall be provided in an electronic format.’’. 
(b) COOPERATIVE ARRANGEMENTS.—Section 503 of 
the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 873) is amend-
ed— 
(1) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(c)(1) The Attorney General shall, once every 6 
months, prepare and make available to regulatory, licens-
ing, attorneys general, and law enforcement agencies of 
States a standardized report containing descriptive and 
analytic information on the actual distribution patterns, 
as gathered through the Automated Reports and Consoli-
dated Orders System, or any subsequent automated sys-
tem, pursuant to section 307 and which includes detailed 
amounts, outliers, and trends of distributor and pharmacy 
registrants, in such States for the controlled substances 
contained in schedule II, which, in the discretion of the 
Attorney General, are determined to have the highest 
abuse. 
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