[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2855 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2855

            To reduce deaths occurring from drug overdoses.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 12, 2009

  Ms. Edwards of Maryland (for herself, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. 
  Pierluisi, Mr. Grijalva, and Mr. Langevin) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
            To reduce deaths occurring from drug overdoses.

    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 ``Drug Overdose Reduction Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Drug overdose death is now second only to motor vehicle 
        crashes as a leading cause of injury-related death nationally. 
        Both fatal and nonfatal overdoses place a heavy burden on 
        public health resources, yet no Federal agency has been tasked 
        with stemming this crisis.
            (2) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 
        that 33,541 deaths in the United States in 2005 were 
        attributable to drug-induced causes. Sixty-seven percent of 
        these deaths were due to unintentional drug poisonings and 
        could have been prevented.
            (3) Deaths resulting from accidental drug overdoses 
        increased more than 400 percent between 1980 and 1999, and more 
        than doubled between 1999 and 2005.
            (4) Ninety-five percent of all unintentional and 
        undetermined intent poisoning deaths are due to drugs, and 
        poisoning deaths cost society more than $2,200,000,000 in 
        direct medical costs and $23,000,000,000 in lost productivity 
        costs in the year 2000 alone.
            (5) According to the Federal Drug Abuse Warning Network, 
        most drug-related deaths involve multiple drugs including 
        prescription opioids and alcohol. Opioid overdose deaths are 
        occurring among those who are taking pharmaceutical opioid 
        drugs, like oxycodone and hydrocodone, and among heroin users.
            (6) Community-based programs working with high-risk 
        populations have successfully prevented deaths from opioid 
        overdoses through education and access to effective reversal 
        agents, such as naloxone.
            (7) Naloxone is a highly effective opioid antagonist that 
        reverses overdose from both prescription opioids and heroin.
            (8) Public health programs to make naloxone available to 
        people at-risk of a drug overdose are currently operating in 
        major cities including Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, New 
        York City, Boston, San Francisco, and Philadelphia, and 
        statewide in 3 States including New Mexico, Massachusetts, and 
        New York. A naloxone distribution program in Boston saved more 
        than 170 lives in the last year alone.
            (9) Between 2001 and January 2008, it is estimated that 
        more than 2,600 overdoses have been reversed in 16 programs 
        across the Nation.
            (10) Many fatal drug overdoses occur in the presence of 
        witnesses who can respond effectively to an overdose when 
        properly trained and equipped.
            (11) Overdose prevention programs are needed in 
        correctional facilities, addiction treatment programs, and 
        other places where people are at higher risk of overdosing 
        after a period of abstinence.

SEC. 3. OVERDOSE PREVENTION GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Program Authorized.--The Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention shall award grants or cooperative agreements to 
eligible entities to enable the eligible entities to reduce deaths 
occurring from overdoses of drugs.
    (b) Application.--
            (1) In general.--An eligible entity desiring a grant or 
        cooperative agreement under this section shall submit to the 
        Director an application at such time, in such manner, and 
        containing such information as the Director may require.
            (2) Contents.--An application under paragraph (1) shall 
        include--
                    (A) a description of the activities to be funded 
                through the grant or cooperative agreement; and
                    (B) a demonstration that the eligible entity has 
                the capacity to carry out such activities.
    (c) Priority.--In awarding grants and cooperative agreements under 
subsection (a), the Director shall give priority to eligible entities 
that--
            (1) are public health agencies or community-based 
        organizations; and
            (2) have expertise in preventing deaths occurring from 
        overdoses of drugs in populations at high risk of such deaths.
    (d) Eligible Activities.--As a condition on receipt of a grant or 
cooperative agreement under this section, an eligible entity shall 
agree to use the grant or cooperative agreement to carry out one or 
more of the following activities:
            (1) Purchasing and distributing drug overdose reversal 
        agents, such as naloxone.
            (2) Training first responders, other individuals in a 
        position to respond to an overdose, and law enforcement and 
        corrections officials on the effective response to individuals 
        who have overdosed on drugs.
            (3) Implementing programs to provide overdose prevention, 
        recognition, treatment, or response to individuals in need of 
        such services.
            (4) Evaluating, expanding, or replicating a program 
        described in paragraph (1) or (2).
    (e) Report.--As a condition on receipt of a grant or cooperative 
agreement under this section, an eligible entity shall agree to prepare 
and submit, not later than 90 days after the end of the grant or 
cooperative agreement period, a report to the Director describing the 
results of the activities supported through the grant or cooperative 
agreement.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $27,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 2010 and 2011, and such sums as may be necessary for each 
of the fiscal years 2012 through 2014.

SEC. 4. SENTINEL SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM.

    (a) Data Collection.--The Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention shall annually compile and publish data on both 
fatal and nonfatal overdoses of drugs for the preceding year. To the 
extent possible, the data shall be collected from all county, State, 
and tribal governments, the Federal Government, and private sources, 
shall be made available in the form of an Internet database that is 
accessible to the public, and shall include--
            (1) identification of the underlying drugs that led to 
        fatal overdose;
            (2) identification of substance level specificity where 
        possible;
            (3) analysis of trends in polydrug use in overdose victims, 
        as well as identification of emerging overdose patterns;
            (4) results of toxicology screenings in fatal overdoses 
        routinely conducted by State medical examiners;
            (5) identification of--
                    (A) drugs that were involved in both fatal and 
                nonfatal unintentional poisonings; and
                    (B) the number and percentage of such poisonings by 
                drug; and
            (6) identification of the type of place where unintentional 
        drug poisonings occur, as well as the age, race, and gender of 
        victims.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 2010 and 2011, and such sums as may be necessary for each 
of the fiscal years 2012 through 2014.

SEC. 5. SURVEILLANCE CAPACITY BUILDING.

    (a) Program Authorized.--The Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention shall award grants or cooperative agreements to 
State, local, or tribal governments to improve fatal and nonfatal drug 
overdose surveillance capabilities, including the following:
            (1) Implementing or enhancing the material capacity of a 
        coroner or medical examiner's office to conduct toxicological 
        screenings where drug overdose is the suspected cause of death.
            (2) Training and other educational activities to improve 
        identification of drug overdose as the cause of death by 
        coroners and medical examiners.
            (3) Hiring epidemiologists and toxicologists to analyze and 
        report on fatal and nonfatal drug overdose trends.
            (4) Purchasing resources and equipment that directly aid 
        drug overdose surveillance and reporting.
    (b) Application.--
            (1) In general.--A State, local, or tribal government 
        desiring a grant or cooperative agreement under this section 
        shall submit to the Director an application at such time, in 
        such manner, and containing such information as the Director 
        may require.
            (2) Contents.--The application described in paragraph (1) 
        shall include--
                    (A) a description of the activities to be funded 
                through the grant or cooperative agreement; and
                    (B) a demonstration that the State, local, or 
                tribal government has the capacity to carry out such 
                activities.
    (c) Report.--As a condition on receipt of a grant or cooperative 
agreement under this section, a State, local, or tribal government 
shall agree to prepare and submit, not later than 90 days after the end 
of the grant or cooperative agreement period, a report to the Director 
describing the results of the activities supported through the grant or 
cooperative agreement.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 2010 and 2011, and such sums as may be necessary for each 
of the fiscal years 2012 through 2014.

SEC. 6. REDUCING OVERDOSE DEATHS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention shall develop a plan in consultation with a task force 
comprised of stakeholders to reduce the number of deaths occurring from 
overdoses of drugs and shall submit the plan to Congress. The plan 
shall include--
            (1) an identification of the barriers to obtaining accurate 
        data regarding the number of deaths occurring from overdoses of 
        drugs;
            (2) an identification of the barriers to implementing more 
        effective overdose prevention strategies and programs;
            (3) an examination of overdose prevention best practices;
            (4) an analysis of the supply source of drugs that caused 
        both fatal and nonfatal unintentional poisonings;
            (5) recommendations for improving and expanding overdose 
        prevention programming; and
            (6) recommendations for such legislative or administrative 
        action as the Director considers appropriate.
    (b) Definition.--In this section, the term ``stakeholder'' means 
any individual directly impacted by drug overdose, any direct service 
provider who engages individuals at-risk of a drug overdose, any drug 
overdose prevention advocate, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the 
Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and any other 
individual or entity with drug overdose expertise.

SEC. 7. OVERDOSE PREVENTION RESEARCH.

    (a) Overdose Research.--The Director of the National Institute on 
Drug Abuse shall prioritize and conduct or support research on drug 
overdose and overdose prevention. The primary aims of this research 
shall include--
            (1) examinations of circumstances that contributed to drug 
        overdose and identification of drugs associated with fatal 
        overdose;
            (2) evaluations of existing overdose prevention program 
        intervention methods; and
            (3) pilot programs or research trials on new overdose 
        prevention strategies or programs that have not been studied in 
        the United States.
    (b) Dosage Forms of Naloxone.--The Director of the National 
Institute on Drug Abuse shall support research on the development of 
dosage forms of naloxone specifically intended to be used by lay 
persons or first responders for the prehospital treatment of 
unintentional drug overdose.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 2010 and 2011, and such sums as may be necessary for each 
of the fiscal years 2012 through 2014.

SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Director.--Unless otherwise specified, the term 
        ``Director'' means the Director of the Centers for Disease 
        Control and Prevention.
            (2) Drug.--The term ``drug''--
                    (A) means a drug (as that term is defined in 
                section 201 of the Federal Food, Drug, or Cosmetic Act 
                (21 U.S.C. 321)); and
                    (B) includes any controlled substance (as that term 
                is defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances 
                Act (21 U.S.C. 802)).
            (3) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means an 
        entity that is a State, local, or tribal government, a 
        correctional institution, a law enforcement agency, a community 
        agency, or a private nonprofit organization.
            (4) State.--The term ``State'' means any of the several 
        States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Northern 
        Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and 
        any other territory or possession of the United States.
            (5) Training.--The term ``training'' means any activity 
        that is educational, instructional, or consultative in nature, 
        and may include volunteer trainings, awareness building 
        exercises, outreach to individuals who are at-risk of a drug 
        overdose, and distribution of educational materials.
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