IIB 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2355 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
DECEMBER 9, 2021 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions 
AN ACT 
To facilitate responsible, informed dispensing of controlled 
substances and other prescribed medications, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Opioid Prescription 
Verification Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. MATERIALS FOR TRAINING PHARMACISTS ON CER-
TAIN 
CIRCUMSTANCES 
UNDER 
WHICH 
A 
PHARMACIST MAY DECLINE TO FILL A PRE-
SCRIPTION. 
(a) UPDATES TO MATERIALS.—Section 3212(a) of 
the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act (21 
U.S.C. 829 note) is amended by striking ‘‘Not later than 
1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with 
the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administra-
tion, Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Director of the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Assistant 
Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall de-
velop and disseminate’’ and inserting ‘‘The Secretary of 
Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Ad-
ministrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, 
Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Director of the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention, and Assistant Sec-
retary 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’’. 
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(b) MATERIALS INCLUDED.—Section 3212(b) of the 
SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act (21 U.S.C. 
829 note) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 
paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; and 
(2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so re-
designated, 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 Pa-
tients and Communities Act (21 U.S.C. 829 note) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(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 ac-
cordance with subsection (c), shall— 
‘‘(1) update the materials developed under sub-
section (a) to include information for pharmacists on 
how to verify the identity the patient; and 
‘‘(2) disseminate, as appropriate, the updated 
materials.’’. 
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SEC. 3. INCENTIVIZING STATES TO FACILITATE RESPON-
SIBLE, 
INFORMED 
DISPENSING 
OF 
CON-
TROLLED SUBSTANCES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 392A of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280b–1) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 
subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol-
lowing 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 Pre-
vention 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 sub-
stances to enter certain information about the pur-
chase of such controlled substances into the respec-
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tive 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), as re-
designated by subsection (a)(1), is amended to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) CONTROLLED
SUBSTANCE.—The term 
‘controlled substance’ has the meaning given that 
term in section 102 of the Controlled Substances 
Act. 
‘‘(2) DISPENSER.—The term ‘dispenser’ means 
a physician, pharmacist, or other person that dis-
penses a controlled substance to an ultimate user. 
‘‘(3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ 
has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the 
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Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act.’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives December 8, 
2021. 
Attest: 
CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 
Clerk. 
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