[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 35 (Thursday, March 3, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S1285]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 3419. Ms. COLLINS submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
by her to the bill S. 524, to authorize the Attorney General to award 
grants to address the national epidemics of prescription opioid abuse 
and heroin use; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       In section 101, strike subsection (c)(5) and all that 
     follows through the end of the section, and insert the 
     following:
       (5) representatives of hospitals;
       (6) representatives of--
       (A) pain management professional organizations;
       (B) the mental health treatment community;
       (C) the addiction treatment community;
       (D) pain advocacy groups;
       (E) groups with expertise around overdose reversal;
       (F) State agencies that manage State prescription drug 
     monitoring programs; and
       (G) State agencies that administer grants under subpart II 
     of part B of title XIX of the Public Health Service Act (42 
     U.S.C. 300x-21 et seq.); and
       (7) 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 
     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;
       (E) whether the State prescription drug monitoring programs 
     are sufficiently available, functional, and useful to be 
     integrated into the process for prescribing pain medication; 
     and
       (F) 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 to stakeholders, as 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 reviewed, modified, or updated 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.
       (g) GAO Report on State Prescription Drug Monitoring 
     Programs.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 
     States shall prepare and submit to Congress a report 
     examining the variations that exist across State prescription 
     drug monitoring programs that have been supported by Federal 
     funds. The Comptroller General shall review, and include in 
     the report recommendations on, best practices to maximize the 
     effectiveness of such programs and State strategies to 
     increase queries to such programs by health care providers.
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