Home

Blog

How People Voted

38% For, 62% Against

Take Action

Alert Your Friends and Colleagues
Write Your Representative in Congress
Save & Share
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Google
Reddit
Yahoo!

P.L. 110-425, The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008

  • This item is from the 110th Congress (2007-2008) and is no longer current. Comments, voting, and wiki editing have been disabled, and the cost/savings estimate has been frozen.

Comparing original version (created by webmaster) with revision saved on November 18, 2008, 19:32:50 (webmaster):

H.R. 6353 would amend the Controlled Substances Act to address online pharmacies.

== Detailed Summary ==

<summary>
(Log<b>(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on September 28, 2008. The summary of that version is repeated here.)</b>

Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to prohibit the delivery, distribution, or dispensing of a controlled substance that is a prescription drug over the Internet without a valid prescription. Exempts telemedicine practitioners.

Defines &quot;valid prescription&quot; as a prescription that is issued for a legitimate medical purpose
in the usual course of professional practice by a practitioner who has conducted at least one in-person medical evaluation of a patient.

Defines &quot;online pharmacy&quot; as a person, entity, or Internet site, whether in the United States or abroad, that knowingly or intentionally delivers, distributes, or dispenses a controlled substance by means of the Internet. Excludes from such definition: (1) manufacturers or distributors who do not dispense controlled substances
to editan unregistered individual or entity; (2) nonpharmacy practitioners; (3) certain hospitals or medical facilities operated by the wikifederal government or by an Indian tribe or tribal organization; (4) mere advertisements that do not attempt to facilitate an actual transaction involving a controlled substance; and (5) other persons or entities the exclusion of which the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services find to be consistent with effective controls against diversion and with the firstpublic health and safety.

Imposes registration and reporting requirements on online pharmacies that dispense 100 or more prescriptions or 5,000 or more dosage units of all controlled substances combined in one month.

Requires an online pharmacy to: (1) display specified information on its Internet home page, including a statement that it complies with the requirements of this Act, its name, address, and telephone number, the qualifications of its pharmacist-in-charge, and a certification of its registration under this Act; (2) comply with state laws for the licensure of pharmacies in each state in which it operates or sells controlled substances; and (3) notify the Attorney General and applicable state boards of pharmacy 30 days prior
to provideoffering to sell, deliver, distribute, or dispense controlled substances over the Internet.

Authorizes the Attorney General to issue
a detailed summaryspecial registration under this Act for telemedicine practitioners. Requires practitioners who issue a prescription for a controlled substance under the authorization to conduct telemedicine during a medical emergency to report to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs the bill!)authorization of that emergency prescription.

Increases criminal penalties involving controlled substances in Schedules III, IV, and V of the Controlled Substances Act.

Authorizes states to apply for injunctions or obtain damages and other civil remedies against online pharmacies that are deemed a threat to state residents.

Requires the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to report to Congress not later than 180 days after the enactment of this Act and annually for two years after such initial report on: (1) the foreign supply chains and sources of controlled substances offered for sale without a valid prescription on the Internet; (2) DEA efforts and strategy to decrease such foreign supply chains; and (3) DEA efforts to work with domestic and multinational pharmaceutical companies and others in combating the sale of controlled substances over the Internet without a valid prescription.

</summary>

<!--Leave in the 'summary' tags if you want the latest summary from the Congressional Research Service automatically to replace the text between the tags once it becomes available. -->

== Status of the Legislation ==

<status>
(Log inLatest Major Action: 10/6/2008: Presented to edit the wiki and be the first to update the status of the bill!)President.
</status>

<!-- Leave in the 'status' tags if you want the latest reported status from THOMAS automatically to replace the text between the tags once it becomes available. -->

== Points in Favor ==

(Log in to edit the wiki and be the first to show why the bill should pass!)
<!-- First editor: Go ahead and take out the sentence in parentheses, and this notice! -->

== Points Against ==

(Log in to edit the wiki and be the first to show why the bill should not pass!)
<!-- First editor: Go ahead and take out the sentence in parentheses, and this notice! -->

« Return to Revision History.


Cost per :

Visitor Comments Comments Feed for This Bill

dawn matlock

September 3, 2008, 1:07pm (report abuse)

.The government is slowing taking our freedoms away. Yes, I feel sorry for Ryan's mother, but if she took the time out to see what Ryan did and the mail he received..He will still be here, But is putting great effort in getting this bill to past. I who is 61 years old and depend on online to purchase my meds. I cannot afford to drive and have no insurance. How come I have to suffer because she couldn't control her son... plus all studies say teenagers get this medication from their homes. If any questions you may email me at ldawnnj@aol.com

pkr

September 12, 2008, 12:26pm (report abuse)

Ryan was a drug addict who bought drugs from all different sources & also blogged about is illegal drug abuse. His parents are blaming the internet instead of taking responsibility for their teens actions. This bill will take away freedoms for people without access to meds they so dearly need.

pain in the neck

September 12, 2008, 12:45pm (report abuse)

I disagree with this bill. Yes, there are rogue online pharmacies that need to be shut down and gone after. These are the ones where you simply place an order without any sort of questions or without speaking to a Dr. first. Do Ieel sorry for Ryan, yes, this could have wasily been avoided, not only by his parents, but also his friends, the people around him, so to speak. There are several "online pharmacies" as our elected officials like to call them, that are very professional, first-rate, and follow federal guidelines. And unfortunately, there are way to many people that need these companies because they have crappy Doctors who are in Big Pharma's pocket. And these Dr.'s are ignorant, plain and simple. They do not bother to listen to the patient, and heaven forbid if they mention they're in pain, now they are labeled as a "drug-seeker". I will end by saying that something needs to be done, but this is not it, educate the Dr.'s and treat the patients, to start.

loretta

September 19, 2008, 1:56pm (report abuse)

Strange how congess will take time to vote on this bill, when the country is in crises, I would see why they are ALL of washington is coming to the aid of the stock market....they see that it would hurt them....IN THEIR POCKETBOOK ALSO....MONEY TALKS....they don't want to lose....but will pass a bill that they careless on a person that is in pain.

HELEN

September 20, 2008, 2:11pm (report abuse)

Ryan's Law? Does congress know that Ryan was a drug abuser? and they are naming a bill after him? Iam missing something here? I cannot believe that congress never did their homework....He had a very known web page...and spoke to people all over the net...Where was his parents....it takes lots of money and I mean lots....not from his part time job either. Someone had to know what his mother credit said? The bill comes to the house? Congress needs to look at this more closely...and not rush in to this so fast...Shame on you congress....You made a mess with my stocks. Now you are rushing to put in the poor house...So rush into this bill and make a mess...I don't trust you anymore. With my money or my pain

nancy

November 5, 2008, 9:20am (report abuse)

It seems to me the only people upset with this bill are the people who wont be able to get their drugs as easy. If indeed Ryan did have a drug problem, the internet shouldn't have been an access for him to get them. And yes their getting the prescript meds other places, but we need to stop what we can, where we can.

M.I.M.

January 6, 2009, 10:29am (report abuse)

The Government goes after flies with sledge hammers. What this kid was doing was already against several laws. The Government should not be able to tell us which Dr. we see. If the boy was getting his drugs from illigitimate sites where was a 15 year old getting that kind of money and why didn't his parents notice that? I'm sorry for their loss, but getting Government involved always makes the matter worse. I'm sure they were completely ignorant of the difference between sites and the procedures.
I guess they needed a little feel-good break between all of their hard work of destroying Capitalism. This will do no one any good and will do some people a terrible harm.

RSS Feeds for This Bill

Keep yourself updated on user contributions and debates about this bill! (Learn more about RSS.)