[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4641 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4641

   To provide for the establishment of an inter-agency task force to 
   review, modify, and update best practices for pain management and 
          prescribing pain medication, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 26, 2016

  Mrs. Brooks of Indiana (for herself and Mr. Kennedy) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide for the establishment of an inter-agency task force to 
   review, modify, and update best practices for pain management and 
          prescribing pain medication, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. DEVELOPMENT OF BEST PRACTICES FOR THE USE OF PRESCRIPTION 
              OPIOIDS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services; and
            (2) the term ``task force'' means the Pain Management Best 
        Practices Inter-Agency Task Force convened under subsection 
        (b).
    (b) Inter-Agency Task Force.--Not later than December 14, 2018, the 
Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the 
Secretary of Defense, and the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement 
Administration, shall convene a Pain Management Best Practices Inter-
Agency Task Force to review, modify, and update, as appropriate, best 
practices for pain management (including chronic and acute pain) and 
prescribing pain medication.
    (c) Membership.--The task force shall be comprised of--
            (1) representatives of--
                    (A) the Department of Health and Human Services;
                    (B) the Department of Veterans Affairs;
                    (C) the Food and Drug Administration;
                    (D) the Department of Defense;
                    (E) the Drug Enforcement Administration;
                    (F) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
                    (G) the National Academy of Medicine;
                    (H) the National Institutes of Health; and
                    (I) the Office of National Drug Control Policy;
            (2) physicians, dentists, and nonphysician prescribers;
            (3) pharmacists;
            (4) experts in the fields of pain research and addiction 
        research;
            (5) representatives of--
                    (A) pain management professional organizations;
                    (B) the mental health treatment community;
                    (C) the addiction treatment community;
                    (D) pain advocacy groups; and
                    (E) groups with expertise around overdose reversal;
            (6) a person in recovery from addiction to medication for 
        chronic pain;
            (7) a person with chronic pain; and
            (8) other stakeholders, as the Secretary determines 
        appropriate.
    (d) Duties.--The task force shall--
            (1) not later than 180 days after the date on which the 
        task force is convened under subsection (b), review, modify, 
        and update, as appropriate, best practices for pain management 
        (including chronic and acute pain) and prescribing pain 
        medication, taking into consideration--
                    (A) existing pain management research;
                    (B) recommendations from relevant conferences and 
                existing relevant evidence-based guidelines;
                    (C) ongoing efforts at the State and local levels 
                and by medical professional organizations to develop 
                improved pain management strategies, including 
                consideration of the availability of opioids with abuse 
                deterrent technology as well as pharmacological and 
                medical device alternatives to opioids to reduce opioid 
                monotherapy in appropriate cases;
                    (D) the management of high-risk populations, other 
                than populations who suffer pain, who--
                            (i) may use or be prescribed 
                        benzodiazepines, alcohol, and diverted opioids; 
                        or
                            (ii) receive opioids in the course of 
                        medical care; and
                    (E) the Proposed 2016 Guideline for Prescribing 
                Opioids for Chronic Pain issued by the Centers for 
                Disease Control and Prevention (80 Fed. Reg. 77351 
                (December 14, 2015)) and any final guidelines issued by 
                the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
            (2) solicit and take into consideration public comment on 
        the practices developed under paragraph (1), amending such best 
        practices if appropriate; and
            (3) develop a strategy for disseminating information about 
        the best practices developed under paragraphs (1) and (2) to 
        prescribers, pharmacists, State medical boards, educational 
        institutions that educate prescribers and pharmacists, and 
        other parties, as the Secretary determines appropriate.
    (e) Limitation.--The task force shall not have rulemaking 
authority.
    (f) Report.--Not later than 270 days after the date on which the 
task force is convened under subsection (b), the task force shall 
submit to Congress a report that includes--
            (1) the strategy for disseminating best practices for pain 
        management (including chronic and acute pain) and prescribing 
        pain medication, as developed under subsection (d);
            (2) the results of a feasibility study on linking the best 
        practices described in paragraph (1) to receiving and renewing 
        registrations under section 303(f) of the Controlled Substances 
        Act (21 U.S.C. 823(f)); and
            (3) recommendations for effectively applying the best 
        practices described in paragraph (1) to improve prescribing 
        practices at medical facilities, including medical facilities 
        of the Veterans Health Administration.
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