[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 79 (Tuesday, May 15, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2680-S2681]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Grassley, Mrs. Capito, and 
        Mr. Durbin):
  S. 2838. A bill to amend the Controlled Substances Act to require the 
Drug Enforcement Administration to report certain information on 
distribution of opioids, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
the Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise with my colleagues, Senators 
Grassley, Capito, and Durbin to introduce the Using Data to Prevent 
Opioid Diversion Act.
  This legislation provides additional tools to drug manufacturers and 
distributors to better enable them to determine when orders of opioids 
are suspicious.
  It also provides additional tools for law enforcement to hold 
manufacturers and distributors who fail to identify, report, and stop 
suspicious orders of opioids accountable.
  Between 2006 and 2016, nearly 21 million opioids were distributed to 
two pharmacies in Williamson, West Virginia, which has a population of 
nearly 3,000. Even worse, between 2007 and 2008, nearly 9 million pills 
were distributed to a single pharmacy in Kermit, West Virginia, which 
has a population of only 392.
  In total, between 2007 and 2012, 780 million oxycodone and 
hydrocodone pills--two powerful opioids--were distributed to pharmacies 
throughout West Virginia. These two drugs contributed to 1,700 drug 
overdose deaths in the state.
  All of this happened despite the fact that opioid manufacturers and 
distributors are required to detect and disclose suspicious orders of 
opioids to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). They are also 
required to keep complete and accurate records relating to the sale, 
delivery, or disposal of opioids through the Automated Reports and 
Consolidated Ordering System, often referred to as ARCOS.
  While required by law to provide this information, once obtained, the 
DEA is not required to disclose to opioid manufacturers and 
distributors the total number of distributors serving a single pharmacy 
or practitioner, or the total quantity and type of opioids being 
distributed.
  This creates a blind spot because there is no awareness of how many 
drugs are entering a community. This lack of information may be part of 
the reason that millions of opioids were able to be delivered to small 
mom and pop pharmacies in West Virginia.
  Our bill corrects this problem by requiring the DEA to provide to 
opioid manufacturers and distributors anonymized information related to 
the number of distributors serving a single pharmacy or practitioner, 
and the quantity and type of opioids being delivered to each.
  This information, coupled with the algorithms that these companies 
already use in their efforts to determine the legitimacy of opioid 
orders, will help manufacturers and distributors better prevent these 
substances from being diverted to someone other than the intended 
recipient who has a lawful prescription.
  Our bill also strengthens accountability by establishing civil and 
criminal fines for drug manufacturers and distributors who fail to 
consider ARCOS data when determining whether an order for opioids is 
suspicious. Additionally, it increases existing civil fines for drug 
manufacturers and distributors who fail to report suspicious orders and 
keep accurate records ten-fold, from $10,000 to $100,000. It also 
doubles existing criminal fines from $250,000 to $500,000.
  In addition to opioid manufacturers and distributors, accurate and 
timely data related to the manufacture and distribution of opioids can 
also assist state officials in stopping suspicious orders.
  That is why our bill requires the United States Attorney General to 
share standardized reports with state officials, including regulatory, 
licensing, attorneys general, and law enforcement agencies, related to 
the distribution patterns collected by the ARCOS database on a semi-
annual basis.
  Finally, our bill requires the Department of Justice to provide an 
annual report to Congress on how it is using ARCOS data to identify and 
stop suspicious activity related to opioids.
  Opioid manufacturers and distributors are on the front lines and have 
an important role to play in combatting the opioid crisis.
  In 2016, we lost 64,000 individuals to drug overdose deaths in our 
country. More than 42,000 of these were opioid related.
  Prevention is critical to reducing these deaths.
  The Using Data to Prevent Opioid Diversion Act will help ensure that 
we never have another situation in which 9 million pills are delivered 
to a single pharmacy in a town that has a population of less than 400 
people. It will provide drug manufacturers and distributors with the 
tools they need to better prevent the distribution of opioids to bad 
actors, and will provide law enforcement with the authority to hold 
them accountable for failure to do so.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and look forward to 
its passage.

[[Page S2681]]

  Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.
                                 ______