Orrin Hatch: “today I wish to discuss S. 483, the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act, which the Judiciary…”

“today I wish to discuss S. 483, the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act, which the Judiciary Committee reported out by voice vote right before we went into recess. At the outset, I would like to thank Senator Whitehouse for his important work on this bill. He and his staff have been crucial partners in helping to move this legislation forward. S. 483 will bring much-needed clarity to several key provisions of the Controlled Substances Act. In particular, it will better delineate the standards a company must satisfy in order to obtain a Controlled Substances Act registration and the circumstances under which a registration may be suspended without an adjudicative proceeding. To elaborate briefly on this second point, under the terms of the Controlled Substances Act, the Attorney General may suspend a registration to manufacture or distribute controlled substances without court process if she determines there is an imminent danger to the public health and safety, but the Controlled Substances Act does not define what constitutes an imminent danger. S.…”