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108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3634
To amend the Controlled Substances Act to lift the patient limitation
on prescribing drug addiction treatments by medical practitioners in
group practices, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 21, 2003
Mr. Souder (for himself, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Tom Davis of Virginia, Mr.
Scott of Virginia, Mr. Ballenger, Mr. Terry, Mr. Acevedo-Vila, Mr.
Sessions, Mr. Portman, and Mr. Boozman) 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
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Controlled Substances Act to lift the patient limitation
on prescribing drug addiction treatments by medical practitioners in
group practices, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Drug Addiction Treatment Expansion
Act of 2003''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Addiction to and abuse of opiates has devastating
repercussions for individuals, families, and the country. The
health and social consequences of drug abuse include risk of
HIV/AIDS and other health impacts, as well as repercussions for
families, schools, the workplace, and prisons.
(2) According to household surveys, younger and wider
segments of the population are abusing heroin. Heroin was the
leading illicit drug among treatment admissions in 2000,
reported by 15 percent of the 1.6 million substance abuse
treatment admissions.
(3) Between 1992 and 2000, heroin admissions for treatment
increased by 44 percent, and the number of admissions for new
users increased by 52 percent. Most disturbing, the proportion
of new heroin users admitted for treatment who were under age
25 grew from 30 to 41 percent from 1992 to 2000. In 1992, 48
percent of new heroin users age 18 to 24 reported injection as
the route of administration. By 2000, that figure had grown to
63 percent.
(4) Between 81 and 86 percent of new heroin users admitted
for treatment have reported daily heroin use since 1992.
Substantial numbers of heroin users also abuse other drugs,
chiefly including cocaine and marijuana.
(5) Abuse of narcotic pain medications is also a serious
and increasing problem. According to the Drug Abuse Warning
Network (``DAWN''), drug-abuse-related emergency room visits
attributable to abuse of narcotic pain medications rose 45
percent from 2000 to 2002, and 20 percent over just one year
from 2001 to 2002. Stemming and preventing such prescription
medication abuse will require a multi-pronged approach,
including major educational efforts and an increase of
substance abuse treatment options and capacity.
(6) The Nation has had a longstanding goal of reducing the
myriad costs to society of drug addiction, and increasing
access to addiction treatment.
(7) The National Institute on Drug Abuse has had a
longstanding research and development program, designed to
increase the availability of viable therapeutic interventions
for drug addiction.
(8) The availability of new therapies and new methods of
providing therapy will both reach new populations and increase
the amount of treatment capacity available.
(9) Congress, recognizing the crucial importance of
expanding drug addiction treatment options and capacity,
enacted the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (``DATA law'')
(title XXXV of the Children's Health Act of 2000; Public Law
106-310) to allow qualified practitioners to prescribe
addiction treatment medications from their office settings as
long as the number of patients to whom the practitioners
provide such treatment does not exceed 30 patients.
(10) Since enactment of the DATA law, a new treatment
option already has been approved by the Food and Drug
Administration and is now available for qualified practitioners
to prescribe for their patients, as a direct result of the
commitment of Congress and the Federal Government to reduce the
social and personal impact of the illness of drug addiction.
(11) For practitioners in a group practice, the DATA law
established a single 30-patient limit for the entire group
practice, rather than a 30-patient limit per practitioner.
Qualified and trained practitioners practicing addiction
treatment in group practice settings and academic health
centers have realized an unexpected negative impact on their
ability to serve their patients effectively and as anticipated
by the DATA law, as a result of the law's patient limitation on
group practices.
(12) Neither Congress nor the DATA law intended that the
quality of care would be less for patients receiving care in
group practices, which are a principal mode of health care
delivery in the United States.
(13) The DATA law's 30-patient limit on group practices is
having the unintended consequence of denying addiction
treatment to patients who seek and require it, in direct
contrast to the overall purpose of such law.
SEC. 3. MAINTENANCE OR DETOXIFICATION TREATMENT WITH CERTAIN NARCOTIC
DRUGS; ELIMINATION OF 30-PATIENT LIMIT FOR GROUP
PRACTICES.
(a) In General.--Section 303(g)(2)(B) of the Controlled Substance
Act (21 U.S.C. 823(g)(2)(B)) is amended by striking clause (iv).
(b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 303(g)(2)(B) of the Controlled
Substance Act (21 U.S.C. 823(g)(2)(B)) is amended in clause (iii) by
striking ``In any case'' and all that follows through ``the total'' and
inserting ``The total''.
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