H.R. 1554House115th Congress (2017-2019)In Committee

Jessie's Law

AI-Generated Summary

Updated April 15, 2026 at 1:46 PM UTC

Jessie's Law would require the Department of Health and Human Services to create standards, within one year of the law’s passage, that tell hospitals and doctors how to prominently show a patient’s history of opioid addiction in their medical records, including electronic health records. The goal is to make that information visible to any clinician who might prescribe opioids, helping to prevent relapse or overdose.

Key Provisions

HHS must develop and share standards for displaying opioid addiction history in patient records within one year of enactment.
The standards must treat addiction history like other critical alerts (e.g., drug allergies) so it is clearly visible when prescribing medication.
They must consider the risk of relapse or overdose if opioids are prescribed to someone with a past addiction.
The information must be accessible to physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other medical professionals who prescribe or dispense opioids.

Legislative Activity

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2 earlier actions

HouseCommittee Latest Action

Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

Health Subcommittee

March 17, 2017

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

March 15, 2017

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Energy and Commerce Committee

March 15, 2017

HouseCommittee

Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

Health Subcommittee

March 17, 2017

Bill Text

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Introduced in HouseIssued March 15, 2017

115th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 1554

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 15, 2017

Mr. Walberg (for himself, Mrs. Dingell, and Mr. Mooney of West Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To include information concerning a patient’s opioid addiction in certain medical records.

Short title

This Act may be cited as Jessie’s Law.

Inclusion of opioid addiction history in patient records

(a)

Development of standards

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall develop and disseminate standards to provide information to hospitals and physicians relating to prominently displaying the history of opioid addiction in the medical records (including electronic health records) of any patient who has provided information about such addiction to a health care provider.

(b)

Requirements

The standards developed under subsection (a) shall take into account the following:

(1)

The potential for addiction relapse or overdose death if opioid medications are prescribed to an individual recovering from opioid addiction.

(2)

The need to display the past opioid addiction of a patient in a manner similar to other potentially lethal medical concerns, including drug allergies and contraindications.

(3)

The need for information about past opioid addiction to be prominently displayed when a physician or medical professional is prescribing medication.

(4)

The need for a variety of medical professionals, including physicians, nurses, and pharmacists, to have access to information described in this section when prescribing or dispensing opioid medication to ensure that the medication is medically appropriate given the history of addiction of the patient.