[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2151 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2151

To clarify Federal law to prohibit the dispensing or distribution of a 
   controlled substance for the purpose of causing, or assisting in 
 causing, the suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing of any individual.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 9, 1998

 Mr. Nickles (for himself, Mr. Lott, Mr. Coats, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Helms, 
   Mr. Murkowski, Mr. Grams, Mr. Faircloth, Mr. Bond, Mr. Enzi, Mr. 
Sessions, Mr. Hagel, and Mr. Coverdell) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To clarify Federal law to prohibit the dispensing or distribution of a 
   controlled substance for the purpose of causing, or assisting in 
 causing, the suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing of any individual.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Lethal Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 
1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) the use of certain narcotics and other dangerous drugs 
        is generally prohibited under the Controlled Substances Act;
            (2) under the Controlled Substances Act and implementing 
        regulations, an exception to this general prohibition permits 
        the dispensing and distribution of certain controlled 
        substances by properly registered physicians for legitimate 
        medical purposes;
            (3) the dispensing or distribution of controlled substances 
        to assist suicide is not a legitimate medical purpose and 
        should not be construed to be permissible under the Controlled 
        Substances Act;
            (4) the dispensing or distribution of certain controlled 
        substances for the purpose of relieving pain and discomfort is 
        a legitimate medical purpose under the Controlled Substances 
        Act and physicians should not hesitate to dispense or 
        distribute them for that purpose when medically indicated; and
            (5) for the reasons set forth in section 101 of the 
        Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801), the dispensing and 
        distribution of controlled substances for any purpose, 
        including that of assisting suicide, affects interstate 
        commerce.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to provide explicitly that Federal law is not intended 
        to license the dispensing or distribution of a controlled 
        substance with a purpose of causing, or assisting in causing, 
        the suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing of any individual; 
        and
            (2) to encourage physicians to prescribe controlled 
        substances as medically appropriate in order to relieve pain 
        and discomfort, by reducing unwarranted concerns that their 
        registration to prescribe controlled substances will thereby be 
        put at risk, if there is no intent to cause a patient's death.

SEC. 3. LETHAL DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION.

    (a) Denial of Registration.--Section 303 of the Controlled 
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(i) Denial of Registration.--The Attorney General shall determine 
that registration of an applicant under this section is inconsistent 
with the public interest if--
            ``(1) during the 5-year period immediately preceding the 
        date on which the application is submitted under this section, 
        the registration of the applicant under this section was 
        revoked under section 304(a)(4); or
            ``(2) the Attorney General determines, based on clear and 
        convincing evidence, that the applicant is applying for the 
        registration with the intention of using the registration to 
        take any action that would constitute a violation of section 
        304(a)(4).''.
    (b) Suspension or Revocation of Registration.--
            (1) In general.--Section 304(a) of the Controlled 
        Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 824(a)) is amended--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as 
                paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
            ``(4) has intentionally dispensed or distributed a 
        controlled substance with a purpose of causing, or assisting in 
        causing, the suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing of any 
        individual, except that this paragraph does not apply to the 
        dispensing or distribution of a controlled substance for the 
        purpose of relieving pain or discomfort (even if the use of the 
        controlled substance may increase the risk of death), so long 
        as the controlled substance is not also dispensed or 
        distributed for the purpose of causing, or assisting in 
        causing, the death of an individual for any reason;''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 304(a)(5) of the 
        Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 824(a)(5)) (as 
        redesignated by paragraph (1) of this subsection) is amended by 
        inserting ``other'' after ``such''.
    (c) Pain Relief.--Section 304(c) of the Controlled Substances Act 
(21 U.S.C. 824(c)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(c) Before'' and inserting the following:
    ``(c) Procedures.--
            ``(1) Order to show cause.--After any hearing under 
        paragraph (2), and before''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Medical review board on pain relief.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Attorney General shall by 
                regulation establish a board to be known as the Medical 
                Review Board on Pain Relief (referred to in this 
                subsection as the `Board').
                    ``(B) Membership.--The Attorney General shall 
                appoint the members of the Board--
                            ``(i) from among individuals who, by reason 
                        of specialized education or substantial 
                        relevant experience in pain management, are 
                        clinical experts with knowledge regarding 
                        standards, practices, and guidelines concerning 
                        pain relief; and
                            ``(ii) after consultation with the American 
                        Medical Association, the American Academy of 
                        Hospice and Palliative Medicine, the National 
                        Hospice Organization, the American Geriatrics 
                        Society, and such other entities with relevant 
                        expertise concerning pain relief, as the 
                        Attorney General determines to be appropriate.
                    ``(C) Duties of board.--
                            ``(i) Hearing.--If an applicant or 
                        registrant claims that any action (or, in the 
                        case of a proposed denial under section 
                        303(i)(2), any potential action) that is a 
                        basis of a proposed denial under section 
                        303(i), or a proposed revocation or suspension 
                        under subsection (a)(4) of this section, is an 
                        appropriate means to relieve pain that does not 
                        constitute a violation of subsection (a)(4) of 
                        this section, the applicant or registrant may 
                        seek a hearing before the Board on that issue.
                            ``(ii) Findings.--Based on a hearing under 
                        clause (i), the Board shall make findings 
                        regarding whether the action at issue is an 
                        appropriate means to relieve pain that does not 
                        constitute a violation of subsection (a)(4). 
                        The findings of the Board under this clause 
                        shall be admissible in any hearing pursuant to 
                        an order to show cause under paragraph (1).''.

SEC. 4. CONSTRUCTION.

    (a) In General.--Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 
Act shall be construed to imply that the dispensing or distribution of 
a controlled substance before the date of enactment of this Act for the 
purpose of causing, or assisting in causing, the suicide, euthanasia, 
or mercy killing of any individual is not a violation of the Controlled 
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.).
    (b) Incorporated Definitions.--In this section, the terms 
``controlled substance'', ``dispense'', and ``distribute'' have the 
meanings given those terms in section 102 of the Controlled Substances 
Act (21 U.S.C. 802).
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