Safe Doses Act

Bill: 112-s-1002
Sponsor: Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY]
Introduced: 2011-05-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Blood and blood diseases
Civil actions and liability
Crime victims
Crimes against property
Criminal procedure and sentencing
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Health technology, devices, supplies
Nutrition and diet
Organized crime
U.S. Sentencing Commission

Summary:
action_date: 2011-05-16
text: 
Strengthening and Focusing Enforcement to Deter Organized Stealing and Enhance Safety Act of 2011 or the SAFE DOSES Act - Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit, in interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly: (1) stealing, embezzling, or obtaining by fraud or deception a medical product; (2) transporting, handling, trafficking in, or storing a stolen medical product; or (3) participating in any way in a scheme to alter, forge, or falsify the labeling or documentation of a stolen or expired medical product. Defines a &quot;medical product&quot; a drug, biological product, device, medical food, or infant formula that: (1) is being stored for transportation or is being or has been transported, shipped, or received; and (2) has not yet been made available for retail purchase by a customer. 
 
Sets forth penalties for violations, including up to 3 years imprisonment if the value of the medical product is less than $5,000 and up to 20 years imprisonment otherwise. Authorizes the Attorney General to bring a civil action in United States district court against violators. Authorizes the court to impose a civil penalty of up to the greater of 3 times the economic loss attributable to the violation or $1 million. Provides for civil forfeiture in cases of theft of medical products.
 
Increases the penalties for: (1) stealing, embezzling, or obtaining by fraud or artifice interstate or foreign shipments; (2) interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises; (3) engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity; (4) breaking into or entering carrier facilities with intent to commit larceny; and (5) the transportation, sale, or receipt of stolen property. 
 
Includes theft of medical products within the scope of: (1) the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act; (2) provisions regarding authorization for the interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications; and (3) provisions regarding mandatory restitution to victims of certain crimes.
 
Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to review and, if appropriate, amend the federal sentencing guidelines and policy statements applicable to a person convicted of an offense regarding robberies and burglaries involving controlled substances, theft of medical products, or other criminal code provisions amended by this Act.

action_date: 2012-08-28
text: 
Safe Doses Act - (Sec. 2) Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit: (1) embezzling, stealing, obtaining by fraud or deception, or knowingly and unlawfully taking, carrying away, or concealing a medical product that has not yet been made available for retail purchase by a consumer (pre-retail medical product); (2) knowingly and falsely making, altering, forging, or counterfeiting the labeling or documentation of such a product; (3) knowingly possessing, transporting, or trafficking in a product involved in a prohibited act; (4) buying or otherwise obtaining, or selling or distributing, with intent to defraud, such a product that has expired or been stolen; or (5) attempting or conspiring to commit a prohibited act.
 
Makes an offense under this Act an aggravated offense if: (1) the defendant is employed by, or is an agent of, an organization in the supply chain for the product; or (2) the offense involves the use of violence, force, a threat of violence or force, or the use of a deadly weapon, results in serious bodily injury or death, or is subsequent to a prior conviction for an offense under this Act.
 
Prescribes criminal and civil penalties for violations of this Act, including a civil penalty of not more than the greater of 3 times the economic loss attributable to the violation or $1 million. 
 
(Sec. 3) Provides for civil forfeiture for any property which constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to a violation of this Act. 
 
(Sec. 4) Requires the penalties under this Act to apply for the following offenses involving a pre-retail medical product: (1) interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises; (2) engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity; (3) breaking into or entering carrier facilities with intent to commit larceny; and (4) the transportation, sale, or receipt of stolen property. 
 
(Sec. 5) Includes theft of medical products as a predicate offense under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
 
(Sec. 6) Extends provisions authorizing wiretapping and requiring victim restitution to the crime of theft of a pre-retail medical product.
 
(Sec. 8) Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and, if appropriate, amend the sentencing guidelines and policy statements applicable to offenses related to pre-retail medical product theft or robberies and burglaries involving controlled substances to reflect congressional intent that penalties for such offenses are sufficient to deter and punish such offenses and to appropriately account for actual harm to the public.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2012-08-28
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 495.
action_date: 2012-08-28
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Leahy under authority of the order of the Senate of 08/02/2012 with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 112-204.
action_date: 2012-08-28
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Leahy under authority of the order of the Senate of 08/02/2012 with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 112-204.
action_date: 2012-03-08
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
action_date: 2011-05-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2011-05-16
text: Introduced in Senate