Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Feb 24, 2016
Reducing Unused Medications Act of 2016
This bill amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow a pharmacist to partially fill a prescription for a schedule II controlled substance (such as a prescription opioid painkiller) at the request of a prescribing practitioner or patient.
A pharmacist must record the partial filling in the same manner as a full filling, update the record with each partially filled prescription, and notify the prescribing practitioner. The total quantity dispensed in partial fillings must not exceed the total quantity prescribed.
The remaining portion of a partially filled prescription may be filled and must be exhausted prior to, or on the same date that such prescription, if fully filled, would have been exhausted.
Source last updated: Oct 28, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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