[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6311 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6311

            To prevent deaths occurring from drug overdoses.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 2, 2012

   Ms. Edwards (for herself, Mrs. Bono Mack, Ms. Norton, Ms. Lee of 
 California, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Schakowsky, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Lynch, 
 Ms. Brown of Florida, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Buchanan, Mr. Carnahan, Mr. 
 Carson of Indiana, Mr. Towns, Mr. Moran, Mr. Keating, Ms. Richardson, 
    Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Olver, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Conyers, Ms. 
  Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Tierney, Mr. Lewis of 
Georgia, Mrs. Capito, Ms. Bass of California, and Mr. Rush) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
            To prevent 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 ``Stop Overdose Stat Act'' or the 
``S.O.S Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention, a drug overdose fatality occurs in the United 
        States every 14 minutes. More people now die from drug-related 
        deaths than traffic fatalities in the United States.
            (2) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 
        that nearly 36,500 people in the United States died from a drug 
        overdose in 2008 alone. More than 75 percent of these deaths 
        were due to unintentional drug overdoses, and many could have 
        been prevented.
            (3) Deaths resulting from unintentional drug overdoses 
        increased more than 400 percent between 1980 and 1999, and more 
        than doubled between 1999 and 2008.
            (4) Ninety-one percent of all unintentional poisoning 
        deaths are due to drugs. Poisoning deaths cost society 
        $93,464,000 in direct medical costs and $28,142,598,000 in lost 
        productivity costs in the year 2005 alone.
            (5) Both fatal and nonfatal overdoses place a heavy burden 
        on public health and public safety resources, yet no Federal 
        agency has been tasked with stemming this crisis.
            (6) Opioid pain medications such as oxycodone and 
        hydrocodone are involved in more than 40 percent of all drug 
        poisoning deaths. Six times as many people died of an overdose 
        from methadone prescribed to treat pain in 2009 than a decade 
        before. Rural and suburban regions are disproportionately 
        affected by opioid prescription overdoses.
            (7) Naloxone is a medication that rapidly reverses overdose 
        from heroin and opioid pain medications.
            (8) In April 2012, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 
        held a public workshop in collaboration with the National 
        Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Centers for Disease 
        Control and Prevention (CDC), and with participation from the 
        Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 
        (SAMHSA) and the Office of National Drug Control Policy 
        (ONDCP), to discuss making naloxone more widely available 
        outside of conventional medical settings to reduce the 
        incidence of opioid overdose fatalities.
            (9) Health practitioners often do not adequately inform 
        patients and caregivers on how to recognize overdose symptoms 
        and effectively respond by seeking emergency assistance and 
        providing naloxone and other first aid in order to save a life.
            (10) The American Medical Association (AMA), the Nation's 
        largest physician organization, supports further implementation 
        of community-based programs that offer naloxone and other 
        opioid overdose prevention services.
            (11) Community-based overdose prevention programs have 
        successfully prevented deaths from opioid overdoses by making 
        rescue trainings and naloxone available to first responders, 
        parents, and other bystanders who may encounter an overdose. A 
        CDC report credits overdose prevention programs with saving 
        more than 10,000 lives since 1996.
            (12) At least 188 local overdose prevention programs are 
        operating in the United States, including in major cities such 
        as Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Boston, San 
        Francisco, and Philadelphia, and statewide in New Mexico, 
        Massachusetts, and New York. In New Mexico, which has one of 
        the highest drug overdose death rates in the country, health 
        officials estimate the statewide naloxone distribution program 
        that began in 2001 has reversed 3,000 overdoses. Another 
        program in Wilkes County, North Carolina, reduced overdose 
        deaths 69 percent between 2009 and 2011.
            (13) 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.
            (14) A real-time overdose surveillance and reporting 
        database is needed to monitor fatal and nonfatal drug 
        overdoses, identify areas of the country in need of 
        programmatic support, monitor the outcomes of overdose 
        occurrences, and enhance evaluation of community programs and 
        interventions.

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 a public health agency or community-based 
        organization; 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 the drug naloxone.
            (2) Educating physicians and pharmacists about overdose 
        prevention and naloxone prescription.
            (3) 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.
            (4) Implementing and enhancing programs to provide overdose 
        prevention, recognition, treatment, and response to individuals 
        in need of such services.
            (5) Expanding a program described in paragraph (1), (2), or 
        (3).
    (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 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section 
for each of the fiscal years 2013 through 2017.

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 
(such as the National Poison Data System), 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 such sums as may be necessary 
for each of the fiscal years 2013 through 2017.

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, or the National Poison Data 
System, working in conjunction with the State, local, or tribal 
governments, to improve fatal and nonfatal drug overdose surveillance 
and reporting capabilities, including the following:
            (1) Implementing or enhancing the capacity of a coroner or 
        medical examiner's office to conduct toxicological screenings 
        where drug overdose is the suspected cause of death.
            (2) Providing training to improve identification of drug 
        overdose as the cause of death by coroners and medical 
        examiners.
            (3) Establishing, in cooperation with the National Poison 
        Data System, coroners, and medical examiners, a comprehensive 
        national program for surveillance of, and reporting to an 
        electronic database on, drug overdose deaths in the United 
        States.
            (4) Establishing, in cooperation with the National Poison 
        Data System, a comprehensive national program for surveillance 
        of, and reporting to an electronic database on, fatal and 
        nonfatal drug overdose occurrences, including epidemiological 
        and toxicologic analysis and trends.
    (b) Application.--
            (1) In general.--A State, local, or tribal government or 
        the National Poison Data System 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 or the National Poison Data System 
                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 or 
the National Poison Data System 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 such sums as may be necessary 
for each of the fiscal years 2013 through 2017.

SEC. 6. REDUCING OVERDOSE DEATHS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services 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) a plan for implementation of a public health campaign 
        to educate physicians and the public about overdose prevention 
        and naloxone prescription;
            (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, the American 
Association of Poison Control Centers, 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 such sums as may be necessary 
for each of the fiscal years 2013 through 2017.

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, and 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, a professional organization in the field of poison 
        control and surveillance, or a private nonprofit organization.
            (4) National poison data system.--The term ``National 
        Poison Data System'' means the system operated by the American 
        Association of Poison Control Centers, in partnership with the 
        Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for real-time 
        local, State, and national electronic reporting, and the 
        corresponding database network.
            (5) 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.
            (6) 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.
                                 <all>