House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Hearing Wednesday

The House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing on Wednesday, October 24 entitled "Why has the National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting (NASPER) Act Not Been Implemented?"  The hearing will focus on HR.1132, the "Prescription Electronic Reporting Act", passed by the 109th Congress.  The bill became public law when it was signed by President George W. Bush on August 11, 2005.  It was meant to award grants through the Department of Health and Human Services to states that establish or improve programs to electronically monitor the dispensing of controlled substances.

The upcoming hearing is at a key time, as the regulation of Schedule II controlled substances by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has recently come under scrutiny by a number of Senators.  eHI reported in last week's newsletter a colloquy that took place on the Senate floor in which a number of Senate Democrats questioned the lack of inclusion of controlled substances in the DEA's regulations surrounding ePrescribing.  To view this article, click here.

Senate Democrats have recently begun to urge the DEA to include these controlled substances in their regulations of ePrescribing through the leveraging of funding bills of the Department of Justice (DOJ), the department responsible for oversight of the DEA.

The hearing will be held on Wednesday, October 24, at 9:30 am ET in room 2322 of the Rayburn House Office Building.