Medical Controlled Substances Transportation Act of 2017

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1492) to amend the Controlled Substances Act to direct the Attorney General to register practitioners to transport controlled substances to States in which the practitioner is not registered under the Act for the purpose of administering the substances (under applicable State law) at locations other than principal places of business or professional practice.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the Record on the bill.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions), who is the chairman of the Rules Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1492, the Medical Controlled Substances Transportation Act of 2017, authored by my good friend from Texas, the chairman of the Rules Committee, Representative Pete Sessions.

Whether it is emergency medical service providers traveling to a disaster area to provide care or a team physician at an away game, certain medical practitioners often need to travel with and administer antiseizure or pain medications.

Although many of these are regulated under the Controlled Substances Act, current law does not specifically authorize the transportation or administration of such substances away from their registered location. Currently, the Controlled Substances Act does not specifically authorize the transportation and the administration of controlled substances away from the location registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration.

In order to ensure appropriate oversight of this practice, H.R. 1492 would establish a separate registration process for mobile practitioners who are already registered with the DEA and in good standing.

For a practitioner to transport and administer controlled substances pursuant to this new registration, he or she must be licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted by the State in which the substances are administered to carry out such activity at the location where it occurs.

In addition, the practitioner must limit the time of transport to not more than 72 consecutive hours and return any such substances not administered to their registered location from which they were obtained.

Further, the practitioner must maintain records of the transporting and administering, and DEA would maintain the authority to deny or revoke a registration.

Mr. Speaker, this is a good bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

U.S. House of Representatives,

Committee on the Judiciary,

Washington, DC, June 24, 2017.

Hon. Greg Walden,

Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce,

Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Walden: I write with respect to H.R. 1492,

the ``Medical Controlled Substances Transportation Act.'' As

a result of your having consulted with us on provisions

within H.R. 1492 that fall within the Rule X jurisdiction of

the Committee on the Judiciary, I forego any further

consideration of this bill so that it may proceed

expeditiously to the House floor for consideration.

The Judiciary Committee takes this action with our mutual

understanding that by foregoing consideration of H.R. 1492 at

this time, we do not waive any jurisdiction over subject

matter contained in this or similar legislation and that our

committee will be appropriately consulted and involved as

this bill or similar legislation moves forward so that we may

address any remaining issues in our jurisdiction. Our

committee also reserves the right to seek appointment of an

appropriate number of conferees to any House-Senate

conference involving this or similar legislation and asks

that you support any such request.

I would appreciate a response to this letter confirming

this understanding with respect to H.R. 1492 and would ask

that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be

included in the Congressional Record during floor

consideration of H.R. 1492.

Sincerely,

Bob Goodlatte,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

I want to commend Chairman Sessions for working on this important legislation with the Energy and Commerce Committee, the House Judiciary Committee, and the Drug Enforcement Administration to ensure that we got it right. This is a good bill with appropriate safeguards.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1492, the ``Medical Controlled Substances Transportation Act of 2017.''

This bill amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to direct the Attorney General to register practitioners to transport controlled substances to States in which the practitioner is not registered under the CSA to administer these substances at locations other than principal places of professional practice.

H.R. 1492 provides necessary guidance to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to clarify the requirements of physicians whose jobs inherently require transporting controlled substances.

By requiring the registration of practitioners who transport and administer controlled substances across state lines, this bill also increases oversight to ensure physicians are appropriately administering controlled substances to their patients.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1492 addresses a crucial element in America's current opioid crisis regarding the mishandling of powerful prescription drugs by licensed physicians which can result in problems with addiction or abuse for patients.

This issue is particularly relevant in the arena of sports medicine, where specialized physicians are often required to swiftly treat athlete injuries while on the road.

In high-pressure environments, physicians and trainers sometimes prioritize athletic performance over physical and mental health, a mentality which has been shown to leave the door open for long-term, potentially devastating consequences for the players.

Earlier this year, a group of more than 1,800 former professional football players filed a federal lawsuit against all 32 teams of the National Football League (NFL) for allowing teams to violate federal laws governing the transportation, distribution, and administration of prescription drugs.

The lawsuit revealed a slew of dangerous, illegal practices within the NFL and individual teams, including the excessive administration and use of powerful painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs as well as the failure of league and team officials to acknowledge or comply with guidance from the DEA.

In 2012, for instance, the average NFL team prescribed nearly 5,777 doses of anti-inflammatory drugs and 2,213 doses of controlled medications to its players.

The staggering levels of opioid use in the NFL have led to a number of chronic health problems for many former players who continue to suffer from long-term organ and joint damage years or even decades after they have retired.

Even more troubling, a 2011 survey of 644 retired players found that 7 percent were still actively using opioid drugs in retirement--more than four limes the rate of opioid use in the general population.

National sports leagues like the NFL are massive, multi-billion dollar industries that drive many local economies in the United States; last year, the average NFL team was worth $2.3 billion and employed 3,739 people.

However, it is vital that we recognize the human cost of this highly profitable business.

With the immense economic and cultural value of America's sports teams and athletes in mind, the federal government should take all necessary measures to ensure that fans and players are able to enjoy their favorite past-times safely and fairly.

H.R. 1492 is a crucial step in improving the DEA's ability to protect prescription drug recipients who are vulnerable to misusing or abusing painkillers and other powerful medications.

Fixing our national opioid epidemic is a bipartisan cause, and I am confident that this legislation has the potential to effect powerful and positive change for large numbers of Americans.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 1492.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this legislation.

I want to thank the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Walden from Hood River, Oregon, as well as the Health Subcommittee chairman, Michael Burgess from Lewisville, Texas. I appreciate Dr. Burgess for yielding me time on this bill that is mine, that I presented several years ago, Mr. Speaker, that we are finally getting a chance to support today.

I wish to express my full support for H.R. 1492, the Medical Controlled Substances Transportation Act of 2017. This legislation represents commonsense reforms that will ensure certainty and regulatory clarity, while recognizing the needs of doctors, patients, and law enforcement alike. I hope Members on both sides recognize the need for not only this legislation, but will be in support.

Currently, physicians and other DEA-licensed medical practitioners are barred from transporting controlled substances from one practice setting to another. This is particularly strenuous on physicians who travel for their jobs. For example, team physicians at both the college and professional level have been particularly affected by the lack of clarity in the current law.

Physicians who travel with teams to away games carefully practiced transporting medicines--and they have done so for decades--in a manner that they believed to be in compliance with DEA regulations. Recently, however, there has been uncertainty surrounding this issue, as a number of teams have found themselves being challenged by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Those physicians who had, for years, been in compliance, or felt like they were in compliance, were unable to provide players with proper medical care after many injuries while they were at an away game.

H.R. 1492 will allow physicians to obtain a separate mobile registration with the DEA for the ability to transport these very specific substances for medically relevant reasons directly related to the care of patients between practice settings. This registration allows for physician transport, up to 72 hours, while maintaining updated records of transport and the administration of these controlled substances. Such allowances would ensure that physicians whose practices are inherently dynamic have the necessary provisions to provide care to their patients regardless of the setting.

I would like to thank the Drug Enforcement Administration for working with me and my office for the last 5 years on this important issue. I would also like to thank Dr. Dan Cooper, who is the lead physician for the Dallas Cowboys. I would like to thank the gentleman who owns the Dallas Cowboys, Mr. Jerry Jones, for standing up on behalf of professional teams and their players to ensure that we work together for a commonsense answer. I want to thank the gentleman, Dr. Burgess, for yielding me the time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1492, the Medical Controlled Substances Transportation Act. This legislation will allow physicians, in agreement with the Drug Enforcement Agency, to transport and administer controlled substances to patients in another setting or disaster area.

Under current law, the Controlled Substances Act prohibits the transport

and storage of controlled substances away from the site that is registered with the DEA. This makes it illegal for athletic team doctors to transport a small amount of critical medications that may be needed to treat athletes while on the road.

Athletics are awfully important in Texas, and I think it is by luck of the draw--specifically, football--that you have three Texans today who want to make sure that our teams can have their doctors treat them. For equal time for my colleague from Dallas, I am sure this law would also provide for the Houston Texans, not just for the Dallas Cowboys.

It also complicates care for patients in emergency disaster areas where a doctor may want to offer their services during a crisis.

This bill would allow a physician to transport controlled substances to another practice setting or to a Presidentially declared disaster area if the physician is registered to dispense controlled substances listed on schedules II, III, IV, or V, and they enter into a specific agreement with the DEA.

The agreement would require a physician to provide advance notification to the DEA of any transport, identify the controlled substances to be transported and the locations to and from, the intended dates of transport, and the anticipated travel time. The physician is also required to maintain records in their primary practice setting on the dispensing of transported substances, and the duration of the agreement is limited to 72 hours.

As the Nation grapples with the ongoing prescription drug abuse crisis, these safeguards are important to ensuring appropriate use, while allowing doctors to treat patients where they are.

I want to thank the sponsor, Representative Pete Sessions, and the committee for their work to advance this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1492, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to be present for votes in the House of Representatives yesterday, Wednesday, July 12, 2017, due to the recent birth of my son. Due to the absence, I missed Roll Call votes 347 through 352. Had I been present, I would have voted:

Nay on Roll Call vote 347 (ordering the previous question on the Rule providing for consideration of both H.R. 23, the Gaining Responsibility on Water (GROW) Act of 2017, and H.R. 2810, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2018 (FY18));

Nay on Roll Call vote 348 (the Rule providing for consideration of both H.R. 23, the GROW Act, and H.R. 2810, the NDAA for FY18);

Aye on Roll Call vote 349 (passage of H.R. 1492, the Medical Controlled Substances Transportation Act);

Aye on Roll Call vote 350 (the DeSaulnier amendment to require the Interior Department to review available and new technologies for capturing municipal wastewater);

Aye on Roll Call vote 351 (the Carbajal motion to recommit H.R. 23 to add an exemption

to the underlying bill to ensure there is an adequate supply of water from reservoirs or other surface waters to help fight wildfires); and

Nay on Roll Call vote 352 (passage of H.R. 23, the GROW Act).