[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 72 (Thursday, May 26, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6014-S6015]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    THE NATIONAL ALL SCHEDULES PRESCRIPTION ELECTRONIC REPORTING ACT

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I take a moment to bring attention to an 
important step that was taken yesterday in the Senate Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. On Wednesday morning, the HELP 
Committee unanimously passed S. 518, the National All Schedules 
Prescription Electronic Reporting Act, a bill designed to help states 
combat the growing scourge of prescription drug abuse and diversion.
  I begin by thanking Senator Enzi, our chairman, for his excellent 
support in bringing this bill, the National All Schedules Prescription 
Electronic Reporting Act, before the committee for consideration. I 
also thank and commend the bill's original cosponsors, Senators 
Kennedy, Durbin, and Dodd, and their staffs, for contributing to the 
productive, bipartisan process of developing this legislation.
  The abuse and diversion of prescription drugs is a tremendous public 
health issue for our nation, and a growing one. An epidemic that first 
attracted public notice as a regional crisis has now spread to touch 
every kind of community, from major cities to the smallest rural 
hamlet. Prescription drugs now rank second only to marijuana in the 
incidence of abuse. Over 31 million American adults and adolescents 
have, at one time, abused pain relievers, and the number of first-time 
abusers has increased 336 percent since 1990.
  As appalling as the numbers are, we can not permit them to obscure 
the human tragedy of drug abuse and dependence, or the toll that drug 
diversion takes on communities. In the case of individuals who become 
addicted to prescription medications, the addicted too often fall from 
the productive ranks of society into unemployment, disability, 
hospitalization, or even death. They may be drawn into criminal 
activities that lead to incarceration. Their families and communities 
suffer along with them. Those who engage in drug diversion feed an 
insidious black market that makes dangerous drugs available to 
children, as well as adults. On a societal level, taxpayers bear much 
of the expense of abused or illegally diverted drugs, and, 
subsequently, of treating the medical consequences of misuse and 
addiction.
  I find particularly concerning the recent Partnership for a Drug-Free 
America finding that prescription medications are emerging as the most 
rapidly growing category of drugs abused by America's teenagers. 
According to this national study, released April 21st, approximately 
one in five teenagers--that is over 4 million kids nationally--has 
abused prescription painkillers, and 37 percent report that close 
friends have done so. Another 10 percent of teens have abused 
prescription stimulants, such as Ritalin. Surveys show that this dismal 
pattern is driven by, according to teens' own assessment, ease of 
access.
  The establishment, by the states, of programs to monitor 
prescriptions for controlled substances can help curb inappropriate, 
illegal access to these potentially dangerous drugs. At the present 
time, 20 states have operating prescription drug monitoring programs. 
In general, monitoring programs collect, from dispensers, a basic set 
of information on prescriptions that are issued for controlled 
substances. In the most effective programs, providers, including 
physicians and pharmacists, may request the prescription histories of 
their patients, permitting them to avoid providing controlled 
substances to ``doctor shoppers'' seeking multiple prescriptions to 
feed addiction or for diversion to the black market.
  These monitoring programs, appropriately designed, not only help 
healthcare providers to better deliver appropriate, effective treatment 
of pain and other conditions that require the use of ``scheduled'' 
drugs, but also provide an important tool that permits doctors to 
identify and, if appropriate, refer for treatment patients whose 
prescription history suggests that they are at high risk of addiction.
  In addition, they offer an opportunity to repair the physician-
patient relationship in the face of a growing addiction problem that 
has created an atmosphere in which physicians fear that prescribing 
``high risk'' medications could inadvertently injure patients or lead 
to civil or criminal liability or professional discipline. This 
situation has created yet another class of victims, patients who are 
finding it too difficult to obtain timely, effective treatment for pain 
and other legitimate medical needs. Much to their credit, physicians 
have recognized the tremendous potential here and have been the leading 
advocates for national legislation supporting the broader adoption of 
well-designed prescription drug monitoring programs.
  I would like to particularly commend the American Society of 
Interventional Pain Physicians, and Dr. Laxmaiah Manchikanti, their 
CEO, for the tremendous effort they have put forth to educate members 
and the public regarding the need for this legislation. ASIPP has, in 
recent days, been joined in their strong advocacy for the NASPER bill 
by the American Society of Anesthesiology and the American Osteopathic 
Association, and I expect that others will soon follow. Those 
physicians who have stepped forward to advocate for a balanced and 
effective solution to this problem are truly acting in a manner 
consistent with the highest ideals of the medical profession.
  The bill we are considering today, National All Schedules 
Prescription Electronic Reporting Act, establishes a federal grant 
program, to be administered by the Department of Health and Human 
Services, that would support both the creation of new state programs 
and the improvement of existing ones. Participating programs would be 
designed according to a ``best practices'' model, and would adopt 
applicable health information technology standards.
  It also addresses the important barriers that continue to hamper the 
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[[Page S6015]]

realization of these programs' potential: the fact that there are not 
enough of them, and in a time when patients regularly cross state lines 
seeking treatment, existing program can not yet effectively share 
information across state lines.
  This bill provides states with the resources and guidance they need 
to make important progress toward minimizing the abuse and diversion of 
prescription medications while ensuring patients' access to timely, 
effective treatment, and I urge you to join us in supporting it.

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