S.Amdt. 3443

SA 3443. Mr. CASSIDY (for himself and Mr. Markey) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 3378 proposed by Mr.
Grassley (for himself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Portman, Ms.
Klobuchar, Ms. Ayotte, Mr. Graham, Mr. Coons, Mr. Cornyn, and Mr.
Durbin) 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:

On page 27, line 19, strike ``and''.
On page 28, line 20, strike the period and insert ``;
and''.
On page 28, between lines 20 and 21, insert the following:
(3) a State that requires all licensed prescribers of
schedule II and III narcotic substances to complete training
on, at a minimum--
(A) the 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 the Federal prescriber guidelines for
nonmalignant pain;
(C) methods for diagnosing, treating, and managing a
substance use disorder, including the use of medications and
evidence-based non-pharmacological therapies approved by the
Food and Drug Administration;
(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.
On page 39, line 20, strike ``and''.
On page 39, line 23, strike ``program.'.'' and insert
``program; and''.
On page 39, after line 23, insert the following:
``(5) with respect to States, give preference to a State
that requires all licensed prescribers of schedule II and III
narcotic substances to complete training on, at a minimum--
``(A) the 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 the Federal prescriber guidelines for
nonmalignant pain;
``(C) methods for diagnosing, treating, and managing a
substance use disorder, including the use of medications and
evidence-based non-pharmacological therapies approved by the
Food and Drug Administration;
``(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.''.
On page 42, line 19, strike ``and''.
On page 43, line 10, strike the period and insert ``;
and''.
On page 43, between lines 10 and 11, insert the following:
(3) requires all licensed prescribers of schedule II and
III narcotic substances to complete training on, at a
minimum--
(A) the 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 the Federal prescriber guidelines for
nonmalignant pain;
(C) methods for diagnosing, treating, and managing a
substance use disorder, including the use of medications and
evidence-based non-pharmacological therapies approved by the
Food and Drug Administration;
(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.
On page 67, between lines 18 and 19, insert the following:
(A) mandatory training for all licensed prescribers of
schedule II and III narcotic substances on, at a minimum--
(i) the best practices for pain management, including
alternatives to prescribing controlled substances and other
alternative therapies to decrease the use of opioids;
(ii) responsible prescribing of pain medications as
described in the Federal prescriber guidelines for
nonmalignant pain;
(iii) methods for diagnosing, treating, and managing a
substance use disorder, including the use of medications and
evidence-based non-pharmacological therapies approved by the
Food and Drug Administration;

[[Page S1321]]

(iv) linking patients to evidence-based treatment for
substance use disorders; and
(v) 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;
On page 72, line 8, strike ``and''.
On page 72, line 12, insert ``and'' after the semicolon.
On page 72, between lines 12 and 13, insert the following:

(III) is trained on--

(aa) the best practices for pain management, including
alternatives to prescribing controlled substances and other
alternative therapies to decrease the use of opioids;
(bb) responsible prescribing of pain medications as
described in the Federal prescriber guidelines for
nonmalignant pain;
(cc) methods for diagnosing, treating, and managing a
substance use disorder, including the use of medications and
evidence-based non-pharmacological therapies approved by the
Food and Drug Administration;
(dd) linking patients to evidence-based treatment for
substance use disorders; and
(ee) 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;
On page 94, after line 17, insert the following:

SEC. 705. GAO REPORT ON TRAINING FOR PRESCRIBERS.

Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall
submit to Congress a report on--
(1) the number of States that have a mandatory training
program for prescribers of opioids;
(2) when each State that has mandatory training for
prescribers of opioids implemented the training program;
(3) the differences between the mandatory training programs
for prescribers of opioids from State to State; and
(4) whether, in each State with a mandatory training
program for prescribers of opioids, the number of deaths
related to opioid abuse has changed since the implementation
of the training program.
______