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H.R. 19To Create a Federal Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.

_____________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

DECEMBER, 31, 2012

Mr. MENZLER introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on Education and Workforce for a period to

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, for consideration

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the

committee concerned.

_____________________

A BILLTo Create a Federal Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of1

Representatives of the United States of America in2

Congress assembled,3

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.4

This Act may be cited as the "Prescription Drug5

Monitoring Act"6

SEC. 2. Definitions7

Active investigation - an investigation that is being8

conducted with a reasonable, good faith belief that it could lead9

to the filing of administrative, civil, or criminal proceedings, or10

that is ongoing and continuing and for which there is a11

reasonable, good faith anticipation of securing an arrest or12

prosecution in the foreseeable future.13

1STCONGRESS1STSESSION

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14

Addiction - the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular15

substance, thing, or activity.16

17

Authorized Users physicians, pharmacists, and law18

enforcement agencies that are able to monitor prescriptions19

and identify any signs of prescription abuse.20

21

Controlled substance - a substance listed in Schedule I, II, III,22

or IV determined by the Controlled Substances Act. (21 U.S.C.23

801 et seq.)24

25

Dispenser - a pharmacy, dispensing pharmacist, or dispensing26

health care practitioner.27

28

Doctor Shopping - the practice of a patient requesting care29

from multiple physicians, often simultaneously, without making30

efforts to coordinate care or informing the physicians of the31

multiple caregivers. This usually stems from a patient's32

addiction to, or reliance on, certain prescription drugs or other33

medical treatment.34

35

Drug Diversion the use of prescription drugs for recreational36

purposes.37

38

Law enforcement agency - a law enforcement agency of the39

Federal Government which enforces the laws of any state or the40

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United States relating to controlled substances, and which its41

agents and officers are empowered by law to conduct criminal42

investigations and make arrests.43

44

Opiate Pain Relievers - any synthetic narcotic that has opiate-45

like activities but is not derived from opium.46

47

Pharmacy - any pharmacy that is subject to licensure or48

regulation by the department under chapter 465 and that49

dispenses or delivers a controlled substance to an individual or50

address in this state.51

52

Prescriber - a prescribing physician, prescribing practitioner, or53

other prescribing health care practitioner.54

55

Prescription Drug a drug that can be obtained only by means56

of a physicians prescription.57

58

Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMP) - a PDMP is a59

statewide electronic database that collects designated data on60

substances dispensed in the state.61

62

Schedule I Controlled Substance - Substances that have no63

currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of64

accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high65

potential for abuse. (Examples: heroin, lysergic acid66

diethylamide (LSD), marijuana (cannabis), peyote,67

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methaqualone, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine68

("Ecstasy").69

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Schedule II Controlled Substance Substances that have a71

high potential for abuse, which may lead to severe72

psychological or physical dependence. (Examples:73

hydromorphone (Dilaudid), methadone (Dolophine), meperidine74

(Demerol), oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet), and fentanyl.75

Other Schedule II narcotics include: morphine, opium, and76

codeine).77

Schedule III Controlled Substance Substances that have a78

potential for abuse less than substances in Schedules I or II79

and abuse may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or80

high psychological dependence. (Examples: combination81

products containing less than 15 milligrams of hydrocodone per82

dosage unit (Vicodin), products containing not more than 9083

milligrams of codeine per dosage unit (Tylenol with Codeine),84

and buprenorphine (Suboxone).85

86

Schedule IV Controlled Substance Substances in this schedule87

have a low potential for abuse relative to substances in88

Schedule III. (Examples: alprazolam (Xanax), carisoprodol89

(Soma), clonazepam (Klonopin), clorazepate (Tranxene),90

diazepam (Valium), lorazepam (Ativan), midazolam (Versed),91

temazepam (Restoril), and triazolam (Halcion).92

93

Section 3: Background94

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Prescription drug abuse has been described as an epidemic in95

the United States by the Centers for Disease and Control.96

Seven million individuals aged 12 or older (2.7% of this97

population) were current nonmedical users of prescriptionor98

psychotherapeuticdrugs in 2010. Over 1 million emergency99

department visits involved nonmedical use of pharmaceuticals100

in 2010. In 2008, a total of 36,450 deaths were attributed to101

drug overdose, a rate of 11.9 per 100,000 population, among102

which a drug was specified in 27,153 (74.5%) of those deaths.103

One or more prescription drugs were involved in 20,044104

(73.8%) of the 27,153 deaths, and Opiate Pain Relievers were105

involved in 14,800 (73.8%) of the 20,044 prescription drug106

overdose deaths. Individuals will use the practice of doctor107

shopping to obtain mass amounts of controlled substances due108

to their addiction. Currently PDMPs are only implemented109

within states that pass their own legislation. 37 states have110

operational PDMPs that have the capacity to receive and111

distribute controlled substance prescription information to112

authorized users. Departments maintain the databases within113

the state designated by the legislature. A Federal PDMP would114

eliminate the current systems and form one giant database.115

PDMPs would allow dispensers, practitioners, prescribers and116

pharmacies the ability to monitor a patients prescriptions to117

ensure the substances are not being abused. If abuse were118

suspected, it would be the duty of these individuals to report119

the activity to the overseeing law enforcement agency. The120

Federal PDMP would be responsible to monitor all drugs121

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designated by the Controlled Substance Act including Schedules122

I, II, III, and IV drugs.123

Section 4: Reporting124

Dispensers, practitioners, prescribers and pharmacies would125

have to generate bi-weekly reports to electronically file with the126

Drug Enforcement Administration. These reports can be127

generated straight from the database and sent electronically to128

the Agency.129

130

Section 5: Funding131

Funding for the program would come from the Department of132

Justices budget received every fiscal year. Funding for this bill133

currently exist through the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug134

Monitoring Program (HRPDMP) which is administered by the135

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau136

of Justice Assistance, to provide assistance for the drug137

monitoring programs. As of FY 2011, the HRPDMP funding is138

approximately $5.6 million.139

140

Section 6: Enforcement141

The Drug Enforcement Administrations Office of Diversion142

Control, in tandem with the United States Attorney Generals143

Office, will oversee enforcement. Authorized users as defined144

above will be given access to the database for any active145

investigation.146

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Section 7: Penalties148

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Penalties should be enforced under Title 21 of the United States149

Code: Controlled Substance Act under Section 844: Penalties150

for Simple Possession and Section 844(a): Civil Penalty for151

Possession of Small Amounts of Certain Controlled Substances.152

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Section 8: Enactment Date154

This bill will go into effect one (1) year after passage.155

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