S.Amdt. 3382

SA 3382. Mr. MARKEY (for himself and Mr. Blumenthal) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 524, to
authorize the Attorney General to award grants to address the national
epidemics of prescription opioid abuse and heroin use; which was
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. __. CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN
PRACTITIONERS PRESCRIBING CONTROLLED
SUBSTANCES.

Section 303 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C.
823) is amended--
(1) in subsection (f), in the matter preceding paragraph
(1), by striking ``The Attorney General shall register'' and
inserting ``Subject to subsection (j), the Attorney General
shall register''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(j)(1) In this subsection, the term `covered
practitioner' means a practitioner that is not a hospital,
pharmacy, or veterinarian.
``(2)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), as a
condition of granting or renewing the registration of a
covered practitioner under this part to dispense, or conduct
research with, controlled substances in schedule II, III, IV,
or V, the Attorney General shall require, before each such
grant or renewal of registration, that the covered
practitioner complete training (through classroom situations,
seminars at professional society meetings, electronic
communications, or otherwise) that the Secretary of Health
and Human Services determines meets the requirements under
paragraph (3).
``(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to the granting or
renewal of a registration described in subparagraph (A) if
the registration is solely for dispensing non-narcotic
controlled substances or substances on schedule IV or V.
``(3) The training provided for purposes of paragraph (2)
shall, at a minimum, expose covered practitioners to--
``(A) best practices for pain management, including
alternatives to prescribing controlled substances and other
alternative therapies to decrease the use of opioids;
``(B) responsible prescribing of pain medications, as
described in Federal prescriber guidelines for nonmalignant
pain;
``(C) methods for diagnosing, treating, and managing a
substance use disorder, including the use of medications
approved by the Food and Drug Administration and evidence-
based nonpharmacological therapies;
``(D) linking patients to evidence-based treatment for
substance use disorders; and
``(E) tools to manage adherence and diversion of controlled
substances, including prescription drug monitoring programs,
drug screening, informed consent, overdose education, and the
use of opioid overdose antagonists.
``(4) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration shall establish or support the establishment
of not less than 1 training module that meets the
requirements under paragraph (3) that is provided--
``(A) to any covered practitioner registered or applying
for a registration under this part to dispense, or conduct
research with, controlled substances in schedule II, III, IV,
or V;
``(B) online; and
``(C) free of charge.
``(5) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall
establish, maintain, and periodically update a publically
available database providing information relating to training
modules that meet the requirements under paragraph (3).
``(6) Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of
this subsection, the Secretary of Health and Human Services
shall evaluate and make publically available a report
describing how exposure to the training required under this
subsection has changed prescribing patterns of controlled
substances.''.
______