Synthetic Opioid Danger Awareness Act

IIB 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2364 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 amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to provide for a public education campaign to raise public awareness of synthetic opioids. 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 03:15 Dec 10, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2364.RFS H2364 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 2364 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Synthetic Opioid Dan- 2 ger Awareness Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. SYNTHETIC OPIOIDS PUBLIC AWARENESS CAM- 4 PAIGN. 5 Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act 6 is amended by inserting after section 317U (42 U.S.C. 7 247b–23) the following new section: 8 ‘‘SEC. 317V. SYNTHETIC OPIOIDS PUBLIC AWARENESS CAM- 9 PAIGN. 10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 11 date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 12 provide for the planning and implementation of a public 13 education campaign to raise public awareness of synthetic 14 opioids (including fentanyl and its analogues). Such cam- 15 paign shall include the dissemination of information 16 that— 17 ‘‘(1) promotes awareness about the potency and 18 dangers of fentanyl and its analogues and other syn- 19 thetic opioids; 20 ‘‘(2) explains services provided by the Sub- 21 stance Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminis- 22 tration and the Centers for Disease Control and 23 Prevention (and any entity providing such services 24 under a contract entered into with such agencies) 25 with respect to the misuse of opioids, particularly as 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Dec 10, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2364.RFS H2364 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 2364 RFS such services relate to the provision of alternative, 1 non-opioid pain management treatments; and 2 ‘‘(3) relates generally to opioid use and pain 3 management. 4 ‘‘(b) USE OF MEDIA.—The campaign under sub- 5 section (a) may be implemented through the use of tele- 6 vision, radio, internet, in-person public communications, 7 and other commercial marketing venues and may be tar- 8 geted to specific age groups. 9 ‘‘(c) CONSIDERATION OF REPORT FINDINGS.—In 10 planning and implementing the public education campaign 11 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall take into consid- 12 eration the findings of the report required under section 13 7001 of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act 14 (Public Law 115–271). 15 ‘‘(d) CONSULTATION.—In coordinating the campaign 16 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult with the 17 Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use 18 to provide ongoing advice on the effectiveness of informa- 19 tion disseminated through the campaign. 20 ‘‘(e) REQUIREMENT OF CAMPAIGN.—The campaign 21 implemented under subsection (a) shall not be duplicative 22 of any other Federal efforts relating to eliminating the 23 misuse of opioids. 24 ‘‘(f) EVALUATION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Dec 10, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2364.RFS H2364 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 2364 RFS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure 1 that the campaign implemented under subsection (a) 2 is subject to an independent evaluation, beginning 2 3 years after the date of the enactment of this section, 4 and every 2 years thereafter. 5 ‘‘(2) MEASURES AND BENCHMARKS.—For pur- 6 poses of an evaluation conducted pursuant to para- 7 graph (1), the Secretary shall— 8 ‘‘(A) establish baseline measures and 9 benchmarks to quantitatively evaluate the im- 10 pact of the campaign under this section; and 11 ‘‘(B) conduct qualitative assessments re- 12 garding the effectiveness of strategies employed 13 under this section. 14 ‘‘(g) REPORT.—The Secretary shall, beginning 2 15 years after the date of the enactment of this section, and 16 every 2 years thereafter, submit to Congress a report on 17 the effectiveness of the campaign implemented under sub- 18 section (a) towards meeting the measures and benchmarks 19 established under subsection (e)(2). 20 ‘‘(h) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION THROUGH 21 PROVIDERS.—The Secretary shall develop and implement 22 a plan for the dissemination of information related to syn- 23 thetic opioids, to health care providers who participate in 24 Federal programs, including programs administered by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Dec 10, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2364.RFS H2364 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 2364 RFS the Department of Health and Human Services, the In- 1 dian Health Service, the Department of Veterans Affairs, 2 the Department of Defense, and the Health Resources and 3 Services Administration, the Medicare program under title 4 XVIII of the Social Security Act, and the Medicaid pro- 5 gram under title XIX of such Act.’’. 6 SEC. 3. TRAINING GUIDE AND OUTREACH ON SYNTHETIC 7 OPIOID EXPOSURE PREVENTION. 8 (a) TRAINING GUIDE.—Not later than 18 months 9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 10 of Health and Human Services shall design, publish, and 11 make publicly available on the internet website of the De- 12 partment of Health and Human Services, a training guide 13 and webinar for first responders and other individuals who 14 also may be at high risk of exposure to synthetic opioids 15 that details measures to prevent that exposure. 16 (b) OUTREACH.—Not later than 18 months after the 17 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health 18 and Human Services shall also conduct outreach about the 19 availability of the training guide and webinar published 20 under subsection (a) to— 21 (1) police and fire managements; 22 (2) sheriff deputies in city and county jails; 23 (3) ambulance transport and hospital emer- 24 gency room personnel; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Dec 10, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2364.RFS H2364 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 2364 RFS (4) clinicians; and 1 (5) other high-risk occupations, as identified by 2 the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Sub- 3 stance Use. 4 Passed the House of Representatives December 8, 2021. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Dec 10, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2364.RFS H2364 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS