[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 96 (Monday, June 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3596-S3597]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               USING DATA TO PREVENT OPIOID DIVERSION ACT

  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, today I wish to thank my colleague from 
California, Senator Feinstein, for including provisions from my 
legislation, the Comprehensive Addiction Reform, Education, and Safety, 
CARES, Act of 2018, S. 2440, in her bill the Using Data to Prevent 
Opioid Diversion Act of 2018, S. 2838. Specifically, the provisions 
contained in my legislation provides for a tenfold increase on civil 
penalties from $10,000 to $100,000 and doubles criminal penalties from 
$250,000 to $500,000 on opioid manufacturers that fail to report 
suspicious orders of opioids and fail to maintain intern controls 
against diversion of their drugs. Senator Feinstein's bill was 
considered in and reported out of the Judiciary Committee just before 
the Memorial Day recess.
  Sadly, the opioid and heroin epidemic continues to ravage communities 
in my home State of Washington and throughout the United States. 
Between 1999 and 2016, over 10,000 Washingtonians suffered fatal 
overdoses from opioids and heroin.
  Over the past 4 months, I have held seven roundtables and events in 
every corner of my State to hear about how the epidemic is affecting 
Washington State communities from law enforcement, education, and 
health perspectives. I have heard heartbreaking stories from 
individuals recovering from addiction and have been moved by their 
courage.
  One consistent thread I have heard throughout my State is that opioid 
manufacturers need to be held accountable for their role in helping to 
instigate this ongoing crisis.
  Drug manufacturers of controlled substances, like highly addictive 
opioids, are required under Federal law to keep track and report any 
suspicious orders or red flags on the distribution of these drugs. 
However, opioid manufacturers, through their failure to report 
suspicious orders of prescription opioids and failure to maintain their 
own controls against diversion, helped create an illicit market for 
prescription opioids that flooded our communities with highly addictive 
substances.
  My home State of Washington and many other States, cities, and 
counties have filed lawsuits against opioid manufacturers for their 
failure to follow the law and the devastating impact those decisions 
have had on their communities.
  However, it should not take lawsuits to get opioid manufacturers to 
follow the law and be held accountable for their role in this crisis.
  Instead, we need to make sure opioid manufacturers follow the law by 
making the penalties strong enough to serve as an effective deterrent.
  For these reasons, on February 15, 2018, I introduced the 
Comprehensive Addiction Reform, Education, and Safety, CARES, Act of 
2018, S. 2440, with my colleague Senator Harris of California to do 
just that.
  This legislation increases civil and criminal penalties on companies 
that fail to reasonably curtail their drugs from entering the illicit 
drug market. Our legislation increases civil penalties from $10,000 to 
$100,000 per violation for negligence in reporting suspicious 
transaction activity. In addition, the bill increases the maximum 
criminal penalty from $250,000 to $500,000 for companies that willfully 
disregard and/or knowingly fail to keep proper reporting systems or 
fail to report suspicious activity. Again, I am pleased that Senator 
Feinstein included these provisions as part of her legislation, the 
Using Data to Prevent Opioid Diversion Act of 2018, S. 2838.
  Demonstrating the importance of this issue, a group of bipartisan 39 
State and Territories attorneys general sent a letter to the Senate 
Judiciary Committee on May 21, 2018, in support of my legislation, the 
CARES Act, S. 2440, that holds opioid manufacturers accountable for 
negligent distribution practices by increasing civil and criminal 
penalties.

[[Page S3597]]

  The attorneys general wrote: ``Diversion of prescription opioids has 
devastated communities in our states. The consequences for turning a 
blind eye to suspicious opioid orders cannot merely be a cost of doing 
business. We urge you to support CARA 2.0 and the CARES Act to ensure 
that penalties effectively hold manufacturers accountable and help stem 
diversion.''
  Additionally, I introduced the CARA 2.0 legislation on February 27, 
2018, with Senators Portman, Capito, Cassidy, Hassan, Klobuchar, 
Sullivan, and Whitehouse. This legislation, while providing 
authorizations for treatment and naloxone programs, also includes my 
provision to increase penalties on opioid manufacturers that do not 
follow the law. This same provision is what Senator Feinstein has 
included in her legislation, the Using Data to prevent Opioid Diversion 
Act of 2018, S. 2838.
  We must hold opioid manufacturers accountable in our fight to end 
this scourge. I hope that the Senate will pass this legislation so it 
can be signed into law.

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