H.R. 4223 (112th): SAFE DOSES Act

Introduced:
Mar 20, 2012 (112th Congress, 2011–2013)
Sponsor:
Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr. [R-WI5]
Status:
Signed by the President
Slip Law:
This bill became Pub.L. 112-186.

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.

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Status

This bill was enacted after being signed by the President on October 5, 2012.

Progress
Introduced Mar 20, 2012
Referred to Committee Mar 20, 2012
Reported by Committee Jun 06, 2012
Passed House Jun 26, 2012
Passed Senate Sep 22, 2012
Signed by the President Oct 05, 2012
Cosponsors
6 cosponsors (4R, 2D) (show)
Committees

House Judiciary

Senate Judiciary

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit theft of medical products, and for other purposes.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

Read Bill Text »

Last updated Jan 01, 2012.
5 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

We don’t have a summary available yet.

Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

10/5/2012--Public Law. (This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on June 26, 2012.
The summary of that version is repeated here.) Strengthening and Focusing Enforcement to Deter Organized Stealing and Enhance Safety Act of 2012 or the SAFE DOSES Act - Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit, in or using any means or facility of interstate or foreign commerce:
(1) embezzling, stealing, obtaining by fraud or deception, or knowingly and unlawfully taking, carrying away, or concealing a medical product that has not yet been made available for retail purchase by a consumer (pre-retail medical product);
(2) knowingly and falsely making, altering, forging, or counterfeiting the labeling or documentation of such a product;
(3) knowingly possessing, transporting, or trafficking in a product involved in such a violation;
(4) buying or otherwise obtaining, or selling or distributing, with intent to defraud, such a product that has expired or been stolen; or
(5) attempting or conspiring to commit such a violation.
Makes such a violation an aggravated offense if:
(1) the defendant is employed by, or is an agent of, an organization in the supply chain for the product; or
(2) the violation involves the use of violence, force, a threat of violence or force, or the use of a deadly weapon, results in serious bodily injury or death, or is subsequent to a prior conviction for an offense under this Act. Prescribes criminal and civil penalties for violations, including a civil penalty of up to the greater of 3 times the economic loss attributable to the violation or $1 million.
Provides for civil forfeiture for any property which constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to such a violation.
Requires the penalties under this Act to apply for the following offenses involving a pre-retail medical product:
(1) interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises;
(2) engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity;
(3) breaking into or entering carrier facilities with intent to commit larceny; and
(4) the transportation, sale, or receipt of stolen property.
Directs the Attorney General to give increased priority to efforts to investigate and prosecute offenses involving pre-retail medical products.
Extends provisions authorizing wiretapping and requiring victim restitution to offenses relating to theft of a pre-retail medical product.
Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and, if appropriate, amend the sentencing guidelines and policy statements applicable to offenses related to pre-retail medical product theft or robberies and burglaries involving controlled substances to reflect congressional intent that penalties are sufficient to deter and punish such offenses and to appropriately account for actual harm to the public.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/112/2/hr4223.

Summary

H.R. 4223 would amend Chapter 31 of title 18 of United States Code to prohibit theft of medical products.  Specifically, the bill would prohibit theft of a pre-retail medical products, including drugs, medical devices and infant formula.

 

The bill would also prohibit alteration of the labels of pre-retail medical products, transport of stolen or counterfeit medical products and purchase or distribution of expired medical products with the intent to defraud.  The bill would consider offenses as aggregated if committed by an employee of an organization in the medical product supply chain or if the violation involves violence, bodily injury, weapons, death or is a repeat offense.

 

H.R. 4223 would establish criminal penalties of fines and up to 30 years in prison for aggravated offenses that result in serious bodily injury or death; fines and up to 20 years in prison for other aggravated offenses; fines and prison up to 15 years for theft of more than $5,000 in goods; and fines and prison up to three years for all other offenses. It would cap fines at three times the economic loss attributable to the crime or $1 million, whichever is greater.

 

The bill would allow punishment for other crimes involving stolen medical goods under the bill if it would increase the penalties, including: illegal shipment, racketeering, money laundering, breaking and entering, transportation of stolen property and sale of stolen goods.

 

H.R. 4223 would also allow authorities to conduct wiretaps to investigate crimes under the bill and would add offenses under this bill to an existing list of crimes requiring restitution.

 

Lastly, the bill would require that a person charged under the bill to have knowingly stolen medical supplies to be charged under this bill and would require the attorney general to give increased priority to investigations and prosecutions of thefts of medical products.

Cost

There was no CBO score at press time.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.

So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.

We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.

The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)

Other Citations

  • 18 U.S.C. Chapter 31