Opioid Prescription Verification Act of 2021
Floor Speech
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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2355) to facilitate responsible, informed dispensing of controlled substances and other prescribed medications, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 2355
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Opioid Prescription Verification Act of 2021''. SEC. 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 note) is amended by striking ``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'' and inserting ``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 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 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 note) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(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.''. SEC. 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) is amended--
(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), as redesignated by subsection (a)(1), is amended to read as follows:
``(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 dispenses 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 Indian Self- Determination and Education Assistance Act.''.
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Mr. PALLONE. 2355.
Mr. Speaker, in April of this year, the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee held a hearing to discuss the dual threat of the concurrent COVID-19 pandemic and the opioid overdose crisis. In that hearing we considered a slate of bills targeted toward the opioid crisis including H.R. 2355, the Opioid Prescription Verification Act of 2021.
We knew then, and we know now, that time was ticking. Millions of Americans were experiencing the deadly pandemic and simultaneously living through hard-hitting mental health and substance use issues. Tragically, we have lost over 750,000 Americans to COVID-19 and over 100,000 to drug overdoses during the pandemic.
H.R. 2355 seeks to reduce prescription opioid diversion by directing HHS, DEA, FDA, CDC, and SAMHSA to update and disseminate training materials to help pharmacists that dispense opioid medications verify the identity of the patient. To incentivize States to facilitate verification, the bill also authorizes the CDC to prioritize certain grant funding to States that maintain prescription drug monitoring programs and require prescribers of controlled substances to issue prescriptions electronically.
Grant funding would also be prioritized for States that require pharmacists to enter certain information about controlled substance prescriptions into prescription drug monitoring programs, including the quantity dispensed, the date filed, and the patient identifier.
This bill received unanimous support in the Energy and Commerce Committee and is part of a series of bills the committee has worked on to help prevent diversion of opioids and reduce harmful opioid use.
I would like to thank the sponsors of this bill and my colleagues on the committee for their steadfast work in addressing the overdose crisis. We must continue to work in a bipartisan fashion to combat this crisis in order to keep our constituents safe.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues, again, to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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