Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016
Latest action. Became public lawWhat a bill becomes when enacted, numbered by Congress and order of enactment: Public Law 119-4 is the 4th law of the 119th Congress.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) No: 114-198.
(This measure has not been amended since the Conference Report was filed in the House on July 6, 2016. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016
TITLE I--PREVENTION AND EDUCATION
(Sec. 101) This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to convene a Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force to review best practices for pain management developed or adopted by federal agencies. The task force must propose updates to best practices and recommendations for addressing gaps or inconsistencies.
(Sec. 102) HHS must advance education and awareness regarding the risk of abuse of prescription opioids if they are not taken as prescribed. (Opioids are drugs with effects similar to opium, such as certain pain medications and heroin.)
(Sec. 103) The Office of National Drug Control Policy, in coordination with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, may award grants to implement community-wide strategies to address a high rate of, or sudden increase in, opioid or methamphetamine abuse or a sudden increase in opioid-related deaths.
(Sec. 104) HHS must report on the availability of information regarding the prescription of opioids after youth sports injury, including information on opioid use and misuse, injury treatments that do not involve opioids, and treatment for opioid addiction. The report must determine the extent this information is available to teenagers and adolescents who play youth sports, their families, youth sports groups, and health care providers. Taking into consideration the findings of the report, HHS may facilitate the development of such information.
(Sec. 105) This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require HHS to award grants to states to: (1) streamline state requirements and procedures to assist certain veterans to meet state certification, licensure, and other requirements applicable to civilian health care professions; and (2) develop or expand career pathways at institutions of higher education to support veterans in meeting such requirements.
(Sec. 106) This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to refer new drug applications for opioids to an advisory committee before approval, unless the FDA finds that such a referral is scientifically unnecessary and not in the interest of protecting and promoting public health and the FDA notifies Congress of its rationale.
The summary continues for 104 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Public Law" stage on July 22, 2016. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
This bill has been enacted. It is law.
The record's latest action, on July 22, 2016: Became Public Law No: 114-198.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced it on February 12, 2015, and 44 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 25 Democrats, 17 Republicans, 2 independents.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenatePassed
- HousePassed
- PresidentSigned into law