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.

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

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'.

END