Opioid Prescription Verification Act of 2021

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- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Dec 10, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2355.RFS H2355 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 2355 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Opioid Prescription 2 Verification Act of 2021’’. 3 SEC. 2. MATERIALS FOR TRAINING PHARMACISTS ON CER- 4 TAIN CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH A 5 PHARMACIST MAY DECLINE TO FILL A PRE- 6 SCRIPTION. 7 (a) UPDATES TO MATERIALS.—Section 3212(a) of 8 the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act (21 9 U.S.C. 829 note) is amended by striking ‘‘Not later than 10 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 11 retary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with 12 the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administra- 13 tion, Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Director of the 14 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Assistant 15 Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall de- 16 velop and disseminate’’ and inserting ‘‘The Secretary of 17 Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Ad- 18 ministrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, 19 Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Director of the Centers 20 for Disease Control and Prevention, and Assistant Sec- 21 retary for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall develop 22 and disseminate not later than 1 year after the date of 23 enactment of this Act, and update periodically thereafter’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Dec 10, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2355.RFS H2355 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 2355 RFS (b) MATERIALS INCLUDED.—Section 3212(b) of the 1 SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act (21 U.S.C. 2 829 note) is amended— 3 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 4 paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; and 5 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so re- 6 designated, the following new paragraph: 7 ‘‘(1) pharmacists on how to verify the identity 8 of the patient;’’. 9 (c) MATERIALS FOR TRAINING ON PATIENT 10 VERIFICATION .—Section 3212 of the SUPPORT for Pa- 11 tients and Communities Act (21 U.S.C. 829 note) is 12 amended by adding at the end the following new sub- 13 section: 14 ‘‘(d) MATERIALS FOR TRAINING ON VERIFICATION 15 OF IDENTITY.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 16 enactment of this subsection, the Secretary of Health and 17 Human Services, after seeking stakeholder input in ac- 18 cordance with subsection (c), shall— 19 ‘‘(1) update the materials developed under sub- 20 section (a) to include information for pharmacists on 21 how to verify the identity the patient; and 22 ‘‘(2) disseminate, as appropriate, the updated 23 materials.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Dec 10, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2355.RFS H2355 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 2355 RFS SEC. 3. INCENTIVIZING STATES TO FACILITATE RESPON- 1 SIBLE, INFORMED DISPENSING OF CON- 2 TROLLED SUBSTANCES. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 392A of the Public 4 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280b–1) is amended— 5 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 6 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 7 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol- 8 lowing new subsection: 9 ‘‘(c) PREFERENCE.—In determining the amounts of 10 grants awarded to States under subsections (a) and (b), 11 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 12 vention may give preference to States in accordance with 13 such criteria as the Director may specify and may choose 14 to give preference to States that— 15 ‘‘(1) maintain a prescription drug monitoring 16 program; 17 ‘‘(2) require prescribers of controlled substances 18 in schedule II, III, or IV to issue such prescriptions 19 electronically, and make such requirement subject to 20 exceptions in the cases listed in section 1860D– 21 4(e)(7)(B) of the Social Security Act; and 22 ‘‘(3) require dispensers of such controlled sub- 23 stances to enter certain information about the pur- 24 chase of such controlled substances into the respec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Dec 10, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2355.RFS H2355 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 2355 RFS tive State’s prescription drug monitoring program, 1 including— 2 ‘‘(A) the National Drug Code or, in the 3 case of compounded medications, compound 4 identifier; 5 ‘‘(B) the quantity dispensed; 6 ‘‘(C) the patient identifier; and 7 ‘‘(D) the date filled.’’. 8 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Subsection (d) of section 392A of 9 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280b–1), as re- 10 designated by subsection (a)(1), is amended to read as fol- 11 lows: 12 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 13 ‘‘(1) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE.—The term 14 ‘controlled substance’ has the meaning given that 15 term in section 102 of the Controlled Substances 16 Act. 17 ‘‘(2) DISPENSER.—The term ‘dispenser’ means 18 a physician, pharmacist, or other person that dis- 19 penses a controlled substance to an ultimate user. 20 ‘‘(3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ 21 has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Dec 10, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2355.RFS H2355 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 2355 RFS Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 1 Act.’’. 2 Passed the House of Representatives December 8, 2021. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Dec 10, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2355.RFS H2355 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS