MA Passes Legislation to Combat State’s Opioid Problem
Tuesday, October 06, 2015
GoLocalWorcester News Team
On Thursday, the Massachusetts Senate passed legislation that will focus on substance abuse prevention and putting an end to opiate pill circulation.
In collaboration with doctors, patients, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and pharmacists, the new bill hopes to limit the high number of unwanted and unused prescription pills and will provide patients the opportunity to fill their prescriptions with less than the prescribed amount to reduce the quanity of unused and excess drugs.
“Simply put, this legislation is about preventing addiction, promoting public safety and saving lives,” said Senator Michael Moore (D-Millbury). “I have heard from many residents of the Second Worcester District who have lost a friend, neighbor or family to addiction. This legislation not only targets the accessibility of opioids but also provides preventative and educational measures to protect residents of our Commonwealth.”
“The passage of this legislation symbolizes the commitment that the Senate has made to battle the opioid epidemic in the Commonwealth,” said Senator Harriette Chandler (D-Worcester). “By expanding a prescription take back program, the bill further seeks to limit the excessive number of unwanted and unused prescription pills that become accessible to youth and adults for diversion and misuse, and hold private companies accountable for their role in the substance abuse epidemic.”
Provisions of the legislation include:
- Add Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) to the list of screenings a school conducts to identify youth engaging in risky or abusive behaviors and matching them with appropriate services before they become dependent on drugs
- Increase access to specialists who specialize in pain management and treatment by creating a remote consulting program for physicians working with individuals experiencing chronic pain. Specialists would create a holistic plan for each patient, similar to the model used for access to child psychiatry.
- Require pharmaceutical companies to establish or participate in drug-take back programs to further reduce the number of pills accessible in homes or pay an assessment into a prevention trust fund based on the quantity of the product being dispensed in Massachusetts
- Protect “Good Samaritans” who administer naloxone to an overdose victim from civil liability. Currently the state only guarantees protection from criminal prosecution for carrying and administering this prescription product.
- Require that Gabapentin, a drug increasing in popularity for its enhancing effect on opiate misuse, to be reported and monitored by the Prescription Monitoring Program
- Require that all schedule II opiate prescriptions be written in an “up to” quantity, allowing patients to voluntarily reduce the amount dispensed; and require prescribers to educate patients about their right to receive lesser quantities of opiates.
- Allow patients to voluntarily record a non-opiate directive, as a binding instruction to prescribers that the patient should not be offered an opiate; thereby allowing persons in recovery or for any other reason to indicate their preference for non-opiate pain management.
- The bill now moves to the House of Representatives for consideration.