Safer Prescribing of Controlled Substances Act

Safer Prescribing of Controlled Substances Act

This bill amends the Controlled Substances Act to direct the Drug Enforcement Administration, as a condition of granting or renewing the registration of a covered practitioner to dispense, or conduct research with, controlled substances in schedule II, III, IV, or V, to require such practitioner to complete training that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) determines meets the requirements of this bill. It defines a "covered practitioner" as a practitioner that is not a hospital, pharmacy, or veterinarian.

It requires such training to expose covered practitioners to:

• best practices for pain management, including alternatives to prescribing controlled substances;
• responsible prescribing of pain medications;
• methods for diagnosing, treating, and managing a substance use disorder, including evidence-based nonpharmacological therapies;
• ways of linking patients to evidence-based treatment for substance use disorders; and
• tools to manage adherence and diversion of controlled substances.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration must establish or support the establishment of at least one free, online training module that meets such requirements to be provided to any covered practitioner registered or applying for registration.

The bill requires HHS: (1) to establish, maintain, and periodically update a publicly available database providing information on such training modules; and (2) within five years after enactment of this bill, to evaluate and make publicly available a report describing how exposure to training required by this bill has changed prescribing patterns of controlled substances.