In the Senate of the United States, 
October 24, 2017. 
Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representa-
tives (H.R. 304) entitled ‘‘An Act to amend the Controlled 
Substances Act with regard to the provision of emergency 
medical services.’’, do pass with the following 
AMENDMENT: 
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following: 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Patient Ac-
cess to Emergency Medications Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES. 
Section 303 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 
U.S.C. 823) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (j) as subsection 
(k); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (i) the following:
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‘‘(j) EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES THAT ADMIN-
ISTER CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES.— 
‘‘(1) REGISTRATION.—For the purpose of ena-
bling emergency medical services professionals to ad-
minister controlled substances in schedule II, III, IV, 
or V to ultimate users receiving emergency medical 
services in accordance with the requirements of this 
subsection, the Attorney General— 
‘‘(A) shall register an emergency medical 
services agency if the agency submits an applica-
tion demonstrating it is authorized to conduct 
such activity under the laws of each State in 
which the agency practices; and 
‘‘(B) may deny an application for such reg-
istration if the Attorney General determines that 
the issuance of such registration would be incon-
sistent with the requirements of this subsection 
or the public interest based on the factors listed 
in subsection (f). 
‘‘(2) OPTION
FOR
SINGLE
REGISTRATION.—In 
registering an emergency medical services agency pur-
suant to paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall 
allow such agency the option of a single registration 
in each State where the agency administers controlled 
substances in lieu of requiring a separate registration
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‘‘(ii) a verbal order that is— 
‘‘(I) issued in accordance with a 
policy of the agency; and 
‘‘(II) provided by a medical direc-
tor or authorizing medical professional 
in response to a request by the emer-
gency medical services professional 
with respect to a specific patient— 
‘‘(aa) in the case of a mass 
casualty incident; or 
‘‘(bb) to ensure the proper 
care and treatment of a specific 
patient. 
‘‘(5) DELIVERY.—A registered emergency medical 
services agency may deliver controlled substances from 
a registered location of the agency to an unregistered 
location of the agency only if the agency— 
‘‘(A) designates the unregistered location for 
such delivery; and 
‘‘(B) notifies the Attorney General at least 
30 days prior to first delivering controlled sub-
stances to the unregistered location. 
‘‘(6) STORAGE.—A registered emergency medical 
services agency may store controlled substances— 
‘‘(A) at a registered location of the agency;
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‘‘(B) at any designated location of the agen-
cy or in an emergency services vehicle situated at 
a registered or designated location of the agency; 
or 
‘‘(C) in an emergency medical services vehi-
cle used by the agency that is— 
‘‘(i) traveling from, or returning to, a 
registered or designated location of the 
agency in the course of responding to an 
emergency; or 
‘‘(ii) otherwise actively in use by the 
agency under circumstances that provide for 
security of the controlled substances con-
sistent with the requirements established by 
regulations of the Attorney General. 
‘‘(7) NO TREATMENT AS DISTRIBUTION.—The de-
livery of controlled substances by a registered emer-
gency medical services agency pursuant to this sub-
section shall not be treated as distribution for pur-
poses of section 308. 
‘‘(8) RESTOCKING
OF
EMERGENCY
MEDICAL 
SERVICES
VEHICLES
AT
A
HOSPITAL.—Notwith-
standing paragraph (13)(J), a registered emergency 
medical services agency may receive controlled sub-
stances from a hospital for purposes of restocking an
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emergency medical services vehicle following an emer-
gency response, and without being subject to the re-
quirements of section 308, provided all of the fol-
lowing conditions are satisfied: 
‘‘(A) The registered or designated location of 
the agency where the vehicle is primarily situ-
ated maintains a record of such receipt in ac-
cordance with paragraph (9). 
‘‘(B) The hospital maintains a record of 
such delivery to the agency in accordance with 
section 307. 
‘‘(C) If the vehicle is primarily situated at 
a designated location, such location notifies the 
registered location of the agency within 72 hours 
of the vehicle receiving the controlled substances. 
‘‘(9) MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A registered emergency 
medical services agency shall maintain records 
in accordance with subsections (a) and (b) of sec-
tion 307 of all controlled substances that are re-
ceived, administered, or otherwise disposed of 
pursuant to the agency’s registration, without re-
gard to subsection 307(c)(1)(B). 
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—Such records—
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‘‘(i) shall include records of deliveries 
of controlled substances between all locations 
of the agency; and 
‘‘(ii) shall be maintained, whether elec-
tronically or otherwise, at each registered 
and designated location of the agency where 
the controlled substances involved are re-
ceived, administered, or otherwise disposed 
of. 
‘‘(10) OTHER
REQUIREMENTS.—A registered 
emergency medical services agency, under the super-
vision of a medical director, shall be responsible for 
ensuring that— 
‘‘(A) all emergency medical services profes-
sionals who administer controlled substances 
using the agency’s registration act in accordance 
with the requirements of this subsection; 
‘‘(B) the recordkeeping requirements of 
paragraph (9) are met with respect to a reg-
istered location and each designated location of 
the agency; 
‘‘(C) the applicable physical security re-
quirements established by regulation of the Attor-
ney General are complied with wherever con-
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trolled substances are stored by the agency in ac-
cordance with paragraph (6); and 
‘‘(D) the agency maintains, at a registered 
location of the agency, a record of the standing 
orders issued or adopted in accordance with 
paragraph (9). 
‘‘(11) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General 
may issue regulations— 
‘‘(A) specifying, with regard to delivery of 
controlled substances under paragraph (5)— 
‘‘(i) the types of locations that may be 
designated under such paragraph; and 
‘‘(ii) the manner in which a notifica-
tion under paragraph (5)(B) must be made; 
‘‘(B) specifying, with regard to the storage 
of controlled substances under paragraph (6), the 
manner in which such substances must be stored 
at registered and designated locations, including 
in emergency medical service vehicles; and 
‘‘(C) addressing the ability of hospitals, 
emergency medical services agencies, registered 
locations, and designated locations to deliver 
controlled substances to each other in the event 
of— 
‘‘(i) shortages of such substances;
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‘‘(ii) a public health emergency; or 
‘‘(iii) a mass casualty event. 
‘‘(12) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 
subsection shall be construed— 
‘‘(A) to limit the authority vested in the At-
torney General by other provisions of this title to 
take measures to prevent diversion of controlled 
substances; or 
‘‘(B) to override the authority of any State 
to regulate the provision of emergency medical 
services consistent with this subsection. 
‘‘(13) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(A) The term ‘authorizing medical profes-
sional’ means an emergency or other physician, 
or another medical professional (including an 
advanced practice registered nurse or physician 
assistant)— 
‘‘(i) who is registered under this Act; 
‘‘(ii) who is acting within the scope of 
the registration; and 
‘‘(iii) whose scope of practice under a 
State license or certification includes the 
ability to provide verbal orders.
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‘‘(B) The term ‘designated location’ means a 
location designated by an emergency medical 
services agency under paragraph (5). 
‘‘(C) The term ‘emergency medical services’ 
means emergency medical response and emer-
gency mobile medical services provided outside of 
a fixed medical facility. 
‘‘(D) The term ‘emergency medical services 
agency’ means an organization providing emer-
gency medical services, including such an orga-
nization that— 
‘‘(i) is governmental (including fire- 
based and hospital-based agencies), non-
governmental 
(including 
hospital-based 
agencies), private, or volunteer-based; 
‘‘(ii) provides emergency medical serv-
ices by ground, air, or otherwise; and 
‘‘(iii) is authorized by the State in 
which the organization is providing such 
services to provide emergency medical care, 
including the administering of controlled 
substances, to members of the general public 
on an emergency basis. 
‘‘(E) The term ‘emergency medical services 
professional’ means a health care professional
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(including a nurse, paramedic, or emergency 
medical technician) licensed or certified by the 
State in which the professional practices and 
credentialed by a medical director of the respec-
tive emergency medical services agency to pro-
vide emergency medical services within the scope 
of the professional’s State license or certification. 
‘‘(F) The term ‘emergency medical services 
vehicle’ means an ambulance, fire apparatus, su-
pervisor truck, or other vehicle used by an emer-
gency medical services agency for the purpose of 
providing or facilitating emergency medical care 
and transport or transporting controlled sub-
stances to and from the registered and designated 
locations. 
‘‘(G) The term ‘hospital-based’ means, with 
respect to an agency, owned or operated by a 
hospital. 
‘‘(H) The term ‘medical director’ means a 
physician who is registered under subsection (f) 
and provides medical oversight for an emergency 
medical services agency. 
‘‘(I) The term ‘medical oversight’ means su-
pervision of the provision of medical care by an 
emergency medical services agency.
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‘‘(J) The term ‘registered emergency medical 
services agency’ means— 
‘‘(i) an emergency medical services 
agency that is registered pursuant to this 
subsection; or 
‘‘(ii) a hospital-based emergency med-
ical services agency that is covered by the 
registration of the hospital under subsection 
(f). 
‘‘(K) The term ‘registered location’ means a 
location that appears on the certificate of reg-
istration issued to an emergency medical services 
agency under this subsection or subsection (f), 
which shall be where the agency receives con-
trolled substances from distributors. 
‘‘(L) The term ‘specific State authority’ 
means a governmental agency or other such au-
thority, including a regional oversight and co-
ordinating body, that, pursuant to State law or 
regulation, develops clinical protocols regarding 
the delivery of emergency medical services in the 
geographic jurisdiction of such agency or author-
ity within the State that may be adopted by 
medical directors.
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‘‘(M) The term ‘standing order’ means a 
written medical protocol in which a medical di-
rector determines in advance the medical criteria 
that must be met before administering controlled 
substances to individuals in need of emergency 
medical services. 
‘‘(N) The term ‘verbal order’ means an oral 
directive that is given through any method of 
communication including by radio or telephone, 
directly to an emergency medical services profes-
sional, to contemporaneously administer a con-
trolled substance to individuals in need of emer-
gency medical services outside the physical pres-
ence of the medical director or authorizing med-
ical professional.’’. 
Attest: 
Secretary.