118 HR 501 RH: Block, Report, and Suspend Suspicious Shipments Act
U.S. House of Representatives
2023-05-17
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Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
IB
Union Calendar No. 46
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 501
[Report No. 118–66, Part I]
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 25, 2023
Mrs. Harshbarger (for herself and Mrs. Dingell) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
May 17, 2023
Additional sponsors: Mrs. Hinson, Ms. Lee of Nevada, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Ciscomani, Ms. Schrier, and Mr. Molinaro
May 17, 2023
Reported from the Committee on Energy and Commerce with an amendment
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic
May 17, 2023
Committee on the Judiciary discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 25, 2023
A BILL
To amend the Controlled Substances Act to require registrants to decline to fill certain suspicious orders, and for other purposes.
1.

Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Block, Report, and Suspend Suspicious Shipments Act”.
2.

Block, report, and suspend suspicious orders
(a)

Clarification of process for registrants To exercise due diligence upon discovering a suspicious order
Section 312(a) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 832(a)) is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (2), by striking “and” at the end; and
(2)
by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following paragraphs:
“(3)
determine whether an order or series of orders is suspicious, taking into consideration—
(A)
any unusual size, pattern, or frequency of the order or series of orders; and
(B)
any customer business model, dispensing patterns, prior orders, or other characteristics that may indicate the order or series of orders is suspicious, despite the particular order or series of orders not exhibiting an unusual size, pattern, or frequency; and
(4)
upon discovering suspicious circumstances regarding an order or series of orders, and in a manner consistent with the other requirements of this section—
(A)
decline to fill the order or series of orders, establish and maintain (for not less than a period to be determined by the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration) a record of the order or series of orders, and notify the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration for the purpose of including information on such order or series of orders in the centralized database established under subsection (b)(1); or
(B)
exercise due diligence as appropriate and—
(i)
(I)
if the due diligence fails to dispel all of the indicators that give rise to the suspicion that, if the order or series of orders is filled, the drugs that are the subject of the order or series of orders are likely to be diverted, decline to fill the order or series of orders; or
(II)
if the due diligence does dispel all such indicators, fill the order or series of orders;
(ii)
establish and maintain (for not less than a period to be determined by the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration) a record of the order or series of orders and the due diligence that was performed; and
(iii)
notify the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration for the purpose of including information on such order or series of orders in the centralized database established under subsection (b)(1), including any indicators giving rise to the suspicion that, if the order or series of orders is filled, the drugs that are the subject of the order or series of orders are likely to be diverted.”.
(b)

Regulations
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, for purposes of section 312(a)(4) of the Controlled Substances Act, as inserted by subsection (a), the Attorney General of the United States shall promulgate a final regulation specifying—
(1)
the indicators that give rise to a suspicion that, if an order or series of orders is filled, the drugs that are the subject of the order or series of orders are likely to be diverted;
(2)
a definition of due diligence; and
(3)
in the case of a registrant that dispels all of the indicators giving rise to a suspicious order or series of orders, the circumstances in which the registrant is not required to file the notification under such section 312(a)(4).
(c)

Penalty
Section 402(a)(5) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 842(a)(5)) is amended by inserting before the semicolon at the end the following: “, including any such violation of section 312(a)(4)”.
(d)

Applicability
Section 312(a)(4) of the Controlled Substances Act, as inserted by subsection (a), shall apply beginning on the day that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. Until such day, section 312(a)(3) of the Controlled Substances Act shall apply as such section 312(a)(3) was in effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act.
(e)

Sense of Congress
It is the sense of Congress that—
(1)
medications for opioid use disorder significantly reduce the risk of overdose death; and
(2)
the requirements of this Act are not intended to impair access to controlled substances primarily used to treat opioid use disorder.
May 17, 2023
Reported from the Committee on Energy and Commerce with an amendment
May 17, 2023
Committee on the Judiciary discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed