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Legislation Addresses Prescriptions to Combat State’s Opioid Crisis
Editor's Note: The State of Ohio just joined with Mississippi and two counties in West Virginia is suing pharma manufacturers for their roles in fueling the opioid crisis.
Almost every day there is a story in the news about how opioid addiction has destroyed lives and families in our country. In Connecticut in 2016, more than 900 people succumbed to their addiction, dying from some type of drug overdose.
No drug addiction seems to have ravaged our society quite like opioids. Victims have been upstanding members of the community like all-star college and high school athletes, devoted mothers and fathers, and even loving grandparents. And often, the addiction starts when opioids are prescribed after a surgery or injury, exposing people who would never consider using drugs to a powerful narcotic.
A bill on the State Senate calendar that I anticipate voting on in the next few days is HB 7052, An Act Preventing Prescription Opioid Diversion And Abuse. This bill seeks to address addiction before it starts by requiring the recording and monitoring of prescriptions for controlled substances. Under the bill, the Department of Consumer Protection would monitor these prescriptions and have the ability to share some of that information with other state agencies for studies involving drug abuse. This helps DCP recognize and prevent improper or illegal drug use or improper prescribing.
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Another important aspect of the bill
requires prescriptions for controlled
substances to be transmitted electronically to a pharmacy. If a medical
professional’s prescription pad is lost or stolen, it could not be used
to forge scripts for controlled substances. The prescribing
physician also must keep records of controlled substances prescribed
and make them available for review by DCP.
As
a way to prevent unused opioid prescriptions from being misused by
another person or even by the person prescribed the medication, the bill
will allow certain registered
nurses to destroy or dispose of their patient's controlled substances.
If
patients know that they have a problem with controlled substances or
are concerned that they might have a problem, the bill creates a process
so patients
can
request not to be prescribed an opioid drug. A prescriber who willfully
violates a patients wish not to receive a controlled substance can have
their license suspended by the Department of Public Health.
To
ensure that patients know about the potential for addiction, the bill
requires practitioners, when prescribing opioids, to discuss with all
patients the risks associated
with opioid drug use. Now, medical professionals are only required to
share this information with minor patients. This requirement, as well as
the ability of nurses to dispose of prescriptions takes effect as soon
as the bill passes. More time is given for
the other requirements to ensure that medical professionals and
pharmacies are able to comply.
I
don’t expect this bill to solve the opioid addiction crisis in our
state. This problem has been years in the making and it will take time
to get it under control.
Too
many Connecticut families have been devastated by a loved-one’s opioid
addiction. I believe this bill moves our state in the direction of
trying to stop addiction before
it has a chance to cause more families to suffer the pain and
heartbreak this disease causes.
It’s not a cure, but it’s a start.
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