Bill Text: NY A01227 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires health practitioners to discuss with patients the risks associated with certain pain medications before prescribing such medications; requires that for the first opioid analgesic prescription of a calendar year the prescribing physician shall counsel the patient on the risks of overdose.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-1)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to health [A01227 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A01227-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          1227

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 13, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Health

        AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to  requiring  health
          practitioners  to  discuss  with  patients  the  risks associated with
          certain pain medications before prescribing such medications;  and  in
          relation to opioid analgesic prescriptions

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding  a  new  section
     2  3309-b to read as follows:
     3    §  3309-b. Practitioner and patient discussions; opioid prescriptions.
     4  1. Prior to issuing the initial prescription of a Schedule II controlled
     5  substance for the treatment of pain or any other opioid drug which is  a
     6  prescription  drug  for acute or chronic pain and again prior to issuing
     7  the third prescription of the course of treatment, a practitioner  shall
     8  discuss  with  the  patient,  or the patient's parent or guardian if the
     9  patient is under eighteen years of age and is not an emancipated  minor,
    10  the  risks associated with the drugs being prescribed, including but not
    11  limited to:
    12    (a) the risks of addiction and overdose associated with  opioid  drugs
    13  and the dangers of taking opioid drugs with alcohol, benzodiazepines and
    14  other central nervous system depressants;
    15    (b) the reasons why the prescription is necessary;
    16    (c) alternative treatments that may be available; and
    17    (d)  the  risks associated with the use of the drugs being prescribed,
    18  specifically that opioids are  highly  addictive,  even  when  taken  as
    19  prescribed,  that there is a risk of developing a physical or psycholog-
    20  ical dependence on the controlled  substance,  and  that  the  risks  of
    21  taking  more  opioids  than prescribed, or mixing sedatives, benzodiaze-
    22  pines  or  alcohol  with  opioids,  can  result  in  fatal   respiratory
    23  depression.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01235-01-3
        A. 1227                             2

     1    2.  The  department  shall develop and make available to practitioners
     2  guidelines for the discussion required by this section.
     3    §  2.  The public health law is amended by adding a new section 3309-c
     4  to read as follows:
     5    § 3309-c. Opioid analgesic prescription. 1. For the first opioid anal-
     6  gesic prescription of a calendar year that is greater than a one  week's
     7  supply, the prescribing physician shall counsel the patient on the risks
     8  of  overdose,  and  inform  the patient of the availability of an opioid
     9  antagonist, including, but not limited to, naloxone.
    10    2. For the purposes of this section, the following  terms  shall  have
    11  the following meanings:
    12    (a)  "Opioid  analgesics" means the medicines buprenorphine, butorpha-
    13  nol,  codeine,  hydrocodone,  hydromorphone,  levorphanol,   meperidine,
    14  methadone,  morphine,  nalbuphine,  oxycodone, oxymorphone, pentazocine,
    15  propoxyphene as well as their brand names, isomers and combinations.
    16    (b) "Opioid antagonist" means an FDA-approved drug that, when adminis-
    17  tered, negates or neutralizes in whole or in  part  the  pharmacological
    18  effects  of  an  opioid in the body. The opioid antagonist is limited to
    19  naloxone or other  medications  approved  by  the  department  for  this
    20  purpose.
    21    § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
    22  it  shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
    23  ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
    24  tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be  made  and
    25  completed on or before such effective date.