New Hampshire Legislation Targets Boards that Govern Opioid Prescribers

This year the presidential primaries in New Hampshire are bringing to national attention the crisis of Opioid addiction.  In a small state like New Hampshire their rate of 400+ overdose deaths a year, brings the issue to the forefront. At New Hampshire town hall meetings candidates are asked hard questions about issues related to Opioid abuse. The New Hampshire State House has proposed legislation that would require all state regulatory boards governing opioid prescribers to update their rules in light of the recent New Hampshire opioid epidemic. Such an update would have a wide-ranging effect, from anesthesiologists to veterinarians. The Board of Medicine is currently working on "emergency rules" to better control the amount of opioids that are being prescribed to patients. However, under the new legislation sponsored by Representative Cindy Rosenwald, other boards covering nurses, dentists, ophthalmologists, and others would have to update their rules to reflect the best practices for prescribing prescription medications, especially opioids. Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley is a co-sponsor of the bill and chair of the Joint Task Force for the Response to the Heroin and Opioid Epidemic in New Hampshire. Mr. Bradley believes these proposed changes will have to be in conjunction with prescribers so they can consider the needs of all patients. Mr. Bradley is planning to continue with this legislation that will place a new burden on many in the medical field, statin...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs