Bill Sponsor
House Bill 2652
115th Congress(2017-2018)
Veteran Overmedication Prevention Act of 2017
Introduced
Introduced
Introduced in House on May 25, 2017
Overview
Text
Introduced
May 25, 2017
Latest Action
May 25, 2017
Origin Chamber
House
Type
Bill
Bill
The primary form of legislative measure used to propose law. Depending on the chamber of origin, bills begin with a designation of either H.R. or S. Joint resolution is another form of legislative measure used to propose law.
Bill Number
2652
Congress
115
Policy Area
Armed Forces and National Security
Armed Forces and National Security
Primary focus of measure is military operations and spending, facilities, procurement and weapons, personnel, intelligence; strategic materials; war and emergency powers; veterans’ issues. Measures concerning alliances and collective security, arms sales and military assistance, or arms control may fall under International Affairs policy area.
Sponsorship by Party
Republican
Colorado
Democrat
California
Democrat
California
Democrat
California
Democrat
California
Republican
Colorado
Democrat
Colorado
Democrat
Connecticut
Republican
Illinois
Republican
Louisiana
Democrat
Massachusetts
Democrat
Massachusetts
Republican
Michigan
Democrat
New Hampshire
Democrat
New Hampshire
Republican
New Jersey
Democrat
New Jersey
Democrat
New York
Republican
North Carolina
Republican
Oklahoma
Republican
Pennsylvania
Democrat
Washington
House Votes (0)
Senate Votes (0)
No House votes have been held for this bill.
Summary

Veteran Overmedication Prevention Act of 2017

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to contract with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to review the deaths of all covered veterans who died by suicide during the last five years, regardless of whether information relating to such deaths has been reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A "covered veteran" is any veteran who received VA hospital care or medical services during the five-year period preceding the veteran's death.

The review shall include:

  • the total numbers of veterans who died by suicide, violent death, or accidental death;
  • the percentage of such veterans with combat experience or related trauma;
  • each veteran's age, gender, race, and ethnicity;
  • a list of medications and substances prescribed to such veterans;
  • a summary of medical diagnoses that led to such prescriptions in cases of anxiety and depressive disorders;
  • the number of instances in which such a veteran was concurrently on multiple prescribed medications;
  • the number of such veterans who were not taking any prescribed medication;
  • the percentage of such veterans treated for anxiety or depressive disorders who received a non-medication first-line treatment compared to the percentage who received medication only;
  • descriptions of how the VA determines and updates clinical practice guidelines for prescribing medications and of VA efforts to maintain appropriate staffing levels for mental health professionals;
  • an analysis of VA's use of systematically measuring pain scores during clinical encounters and how that relates to the number of veterans concurrently on multiple prescribed medications;
  • identification of VA medical facilities with markedly high prescription rates and suicide rates for treated veterans;
  • an analysis of VA programs that collaborate with state Medicaid agencies and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services;
  • an analysis of VA medical center collaboration with medical examiners' offices or local jurisdictions to determine veteran mortality and cause of death;
  • identification of a best practice model to collect and share veteran death certificate data;
  • a description of how data relating to death certificates of veterans is collected, determined, and reported by the VA;
  • an assessment of any apparent patterns based on the review; and
  • recommendations to improve the safety and well-being of veterans.

The VA shall ensure that such data is compiled in a manner that allows it to be analyzed across all data fields for purposes of informing and updating VA clinical practice guidelines.

Text (1)
Actions (3)
05/25/2017
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
05/25/2017
Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
05/25/2017
Introduced in House
Public Record
Record Updated
Jan 11, 2023 1:36:38 PM