Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S9842-9843)
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · May 23, 2000
Pain Relief Promotion Act of 2000 - Title I: Promoting Pain Management and Palliative Care - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to promote and advance scientific understanding of, and collect and disseminate protocols and evidence-based practices regarding, pain management and palliative care. Defines "pain management and palliative care" as certain types of actions, the purpose of which is to diagnose and alleviate pain and other distressing signs and symptoms and to enhance the quality of life, not to hasten or postpone death.(Sec. 102) Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts for development and implementation of programs to provide education and training to health care professionals in pain management and palliative care. Defines "pain management and palliative care" as certain types of actions, the purpose of which is to diagnose and alleviate pain and other distressing signs and symptoms and to enhance the quality of life, not to hasten or postpone death. Adds the provisions of this paragraph to the list of provisions for which the Secretary is required to make a specified amount available and increases the amount specified.(Sec. 103) Designates the decade beginning January 1, 2001, as the Decade of Pain Control and Research.Title II: Use of Controlled Substances Consistent With the Controlled Substances Act - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to declare that, for that Act and any implementing regulations, alleviating pain or discomfort in the usual course of professional practice is a legitimate medical purpose for the dispensing, distributing, or administering of a controlled substance that is consistent with public health and safety, even if it may increase the risk of death.Prohibits the Attorney General, in determining whether a registration (to manufacture, distribute, or dispense controlled substances) is consistent with the public interest, from giving any force and effect to State law authorizing or permitting assisted suicide or euthanasia, notwithstanding any other provision of the Act, and with regard to conduct after enactment of this Act. Gives the Attorney General, in an action to deny, revoke, or suspend a registration based on alleged intentions to cause or assist in causing death, the burden of proving, by clear and convincing evidence, that the intent was to cause death or assist another person in causing death. Declares that the burden is not met by proving that the applicant or registrant knew that the use of the controlled substance may increase the risk of death.(Sec. 202) Authorizes the Attorney General to carry out education and training programs for Federal, State, and local personnel on the means by which investigation and enforcement actions by law enforcement personnel may better accommodate the necessary and legitimate use of controlled substances in pain management and palliative care.(Sec. 203) Requires, notwithstanding any other provision of law, construing the operation of the diversion control fee account program of the Drug Enforcement Administration to include carrying out the provisions of this title (other than section 203).
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Source last updated: Aug 20, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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