Senate adopts opioid pill limits
Patients would only be able to receive a week’s worth of opioid pain medication under a bill advanced by the Oklahoma Senate.
The bill, which was one of the recommendations of a statewide panel on the opioid crisis, passed unanimously on Tuesday and now heads to the House.
Senate Bill 1446 would allow only a seven-day initial supply of the medication in most cases. It also puts more stringent limits on doctors writing a second weekly prescription for opioid-based pain medications. To write a second prescription, doctors would have to determine it’s necessary, and there is no risk of abuse, addiction or diversion to another person.
Doctors would also have to talk with their patients about the drugs, and the dangers posed if someone abuses opioids.
“Senate Bill 1446 addresses the opioid crisis by limiting the initial prescriptions,” said the author, state Sen. Anthony Sykes, R-Moore. “Furthermore, the prescribing physician and the patient must have a plan for subsequent opioid prescriptions.”
According to the recently released report by the Oklahoma Commission on Opioid Abuse, 60 percent of overdose deaths in 2016 were attributable to prescription drugs, compared to 40 percent of deaths attributed to illegal drugs.
The report acknowledged that the medical community has a unique position to help prevent deaths in the opioid epidemic.
“This legislation will save lives and prevent addiction,” Sykes said.
State Sen. Ervin Yen, R-Oklahoma City, said the measure could be the most significant piece of legislation this year that would help stem the crisis.
Patients would only have access to a week’s worth of drugs at a time until the third visit, which
is when a doctor would be able to prescribe opioids for three months at a time for chronic pain management.
The restrictions would not apply to someone who is actively being treated for cancer, receiving hospice or palliative care, or is a resident of a longterm care facility like a nursing home. It would also not affect medications used for the treatment of substance abuse or opioid dependence.