[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 40 (Tuesday, March 10, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S1394]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 282. Ms. AYOTTE (for herself and Mr. Donnelly) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed by her to the bill S. 178, to provide 
justice for the victims of trafficking; which was ordered to lie on the 
table; as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. ___. DEVELOPMENT OF BEST PRESCRIBING PRACTICES.

       (a) Inter-agency Task Force.--Not later than 120 days after 
     the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health 
     and Human Services (referred to in this section as 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 (referred 
     to in this section as the ``task force'').
       (b) 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 Department of Defense;
       (D) the Drug Enforcement Administration;
       (E) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
       (F) the Office of National Drug Control Policy;
       (G) the Institute of Medicine;
       (H) pain management professional organizations;
       (I) the mental health treatment community;
       (J) the addiction treatment community; and
       (K) pain advocacy groups;
       (2) the Director of the National Institutes of Health;
       (3) physicians, dentists, and non-physician prescribers;
       (4) pharmacists;
       (5) experts in the fields of pain research and addiction 
     research; and
       (6) other stakeholders, as the Secretary determines 
     appropriate.
       (c) Duties.--The task force shall--
       (1) not later than 180 days after the date on which the 
     task force is convened, develop best practices for pain 
     management and prescription pain medication prescribing 
     practices, taking into consideration--
       (A) existing pain management research;
       (B) recommendations from relevant conferences; and
       (C) ongoing efforts at the State and local levels and by 
     medical professional organizations to develop improved pain 
     management strategies;
       (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, and other 
     parties, as the Secretary determines appropriate.
       (d) Limitation.--The task force shall not have rulemaking 
     authority.
       (e) Report.--Not later than 270 days after the date on 
     which the task force is convened, the task force shall submit 
     to Congress a report that includes--
       (1) the strategy for disseminating best practices developed 
     under subsection (c);
       (2) the results of a feasibility study on linking best 
     practices developed under paragraphs (1) and (2) of 
     subsection (c) to receiving and renewing registrations under 
     section 303(f) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 
     823(f)); and
       (3) recommendations on how to apply such best practices to 
     improve prescribing practices at medical facilities, 
     including medical facilities of the Veterans Health 
     Administration.
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