Synthetic Opioid Danger Awareness Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5633 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 for the promotion outreach and education campaign to raise public awareness of synthetic opioids. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 16, 2020 Mr. KIM (for himself and Mr. PAPPAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL 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 for the promotion out- reach and 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Synthetic Opioid Dan- 4 ger Awareness Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5633.IH H5633 2 •HR 5633 IH SEC. 2. SYNTHETIC OPIOIDS PUBLIC AWARENESS CAM- 1 PAIGN. 2 Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act 3 is amended by inserting after section 317T (42 U.S.C. 4 247b–22) the following new section: 5 ‘‘SEC. 317U. SYNTHETIC OPIOIDS PUBLIC AWARENESS CAM- 6 PAIGN. 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 8 date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, acting 9 through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control 10 and Prevention, shall provide for the planning and imple- 11 mentation of a public education campaign to raise public 12 awareness of synthetic opioids (including fentanyl and its 13 analogues). Such campaign shall include the dissemination 14 of information that— 15 ‘‘(1) promotes awareness about the potency and 16 dangers of fentanyl and its analogues and other syn- 17 thetic opioids; 18 ‘‘(2) explains services provided by the Sub- 19 stance Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminis- 20 tration and the Centers for Disease Control and 21 Prevention (and any entity providing such services 22 under a contract entered into with such agencies) 23 with respect to the abuse of opioids, particularly as 24 such services relate to the provision of alternative, 25 non-opioid pain management treatments; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5633.IH H5633 3 •HR 5633 IH ‘‘(3) relates generally to opioid use and pain 1 management. 2 ‘‘(b) USE OF MEDIA.—The campaign under sub- 3 section (a) may be implemented through the use of tele- 4 vision, radio, internet, in-person public communications, 5 and other commercial marketing venues and may be tar- 6 geted to specific age groups. 7 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—In coordinating the campaign 8 under subsection (a), the Secretary, acting through the 9 Director shall consult with the Assistant Secretary for 10 Mental Health and Substance Use to provide ongoing ad- 11 vice on the effectiveness of information disseminated 12 through the campaign. 13 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENT OF CAMPAIGN.—The campaign 14 implemented under subsection (a) shall not be duplicative 15 of any other Federal efforts relating to eliminating the 16 abuse of opioids. 17 ‘‘(e) EVALUATION.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 19 through the Director, shall ensure that the campaign 20 implemented under subsection (a) is subject to an 21 independent evaluation, beginning 2 years after the 22 date of the enactment of this section, and every 2 23 years thereafter. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5633.IH H5633 4 •HR 5633 IH ‘‘(2) MEASURES AND BENCHMARKS.—For pur- 1 poses of an evaluation conducted pursuant to para- 2 graph (1), the Secretary shall— 3 ‘‘(A) establish baseline measures and 4 benchmarks to quantitatively evaluate the im- 5 pact of the campaign under this section; and 6 ‘‘(B) conduct qualitative assessments re- 7 garding the effectiveness of strategies employed 8 under this section. 9 ‘‘(f) REPORT.—The Secretary, acting through the Di- 10 rector, shall, beginning 2 years after the date of the enact- 11 ment of this section, and every 2 years thereafter, submit 12 to Congress a report on the effectiveness of the campaign 13 implemented under subsection (a) towards meeting the 14 measures and benchmarks established under subsection 15 (e)(2). 16 ‘‘(g) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION THROUGH 17 PROVIDERS.—The Secretary, acting through the Director, 18 shall develop and implement a plan for the dissemination 19 of information related to synthetic opioids, to health care 20 providers who participate in Federal programs, including 21 programs administered by the Department of Health and 22 Human Services, the Indian Health Service, the Depart- 23 ment of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, and 24 the Health Resources and Services Administration, the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5633.IH H5633 5 •HR 5633 IH Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security 1 Act, and the Medicaid program under title XIX of such 2 Act.’’. 3 SEC. 3. TRAINING GUIDE AND OUTREACH ON SYNTHETIC 4 OPIOID EXPOSURE PREVENTION. 5 (a) TRAINING GUIDE.—Not later than 1 year after 6 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 7 Health and Human Services, acting through the National 8 Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, shall design, 9 publish, and make publicly available on the internet 10 website of the Institute, a training guide and webinar for 11 first responders and other individuals who also may be at 12 high risk of exposure to synthetic opioids that details 13 measures to prevent that exposure. 14 (b) OUTREACH.—Not later than 1 year after the date 15 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 16 Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary 17 for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall also conduct 18 outreach about the availability of the training guide and 19 webinar published under subsection (a) to— 20 (1) police and fire managements; 21 (2) sheriff deputies in city and county jails; 22 (3) ambulance transport and hospital emer- 23 gency room personnel; 24 (4) clinicians; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5633.IH H5633 6 •HR 5633 IH (5) other high-risk occupations, as identified by 1 the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Sub- 2 stance Use. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5633.IH H5633