SB522: (New Title) relative to an exception to the warning label requirement for opiates and requiring prescribers of opiates to get a verbal acknowledgment for an initial prescription.

SB 522 - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

03/05/2020 0779s

2020 SESSION

20-2913

10/01

SENATE BILL 522

AN ACT relative to an exception to the warning label requirement for opiates and requiring prescribers of opiates to get a verbal acknowledgment for an initial prescription.

SPONSORS: Sen. Bradley, Dist 3; Sen. Ward, Dist 8; Sen. Levesque, Dist 12; Sen. Hennessey, Dist 5; Sen. Reagan, Dist 17; Sen. Birdsell, Dist 19; Sen. Carson, Dist 14; Sen. Sherman, Dist 24; Rep. Hennessey, Graf. 1; Rep. Marsh, Carr. 8; Rep. Knirk, Carr. 3

COMMITTEE: Health and Human Services

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill adds and exception for persons in a correctional facility to the warning label requirement for prescriptions for a controlled drug containing an opiate. The bill also requires a health care practitioner issuing an initial prescription to a patient for an opioid to receive and document a verbal acknowledgment from the patient of the risk of addiction and overdose.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03/05/2020 0779s 20-2913

10/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty

AN ACT relative to an exception to the warning label requirement for opiates and requiring prescribers of opiates to get a verbal acknowledgment for an initial prescription.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Controlled Drugs Containing Opiates; Warning Label; Exception Added. Amend RSA 318-B:16-a to read as follows:

318-B:16-a Controlled Drugs Containing Opiates; Warning Label Required.

I. Any controlled drug containing opiates dispensed by a health care provider or pharmacy shall have an orange sticker with the word "opioid" in easily legible font placed on the cap or dispenser and shall have a warning label stating "Risk of addiction and overdose." The health care provider or pharmacist shall also provide each person with a handout which shall be developed and approved by the governor's commission on alcohol and drug abuse, prevention, treatment, and recovery which shall include guidance on associated risks of opioid use and how to mitigate them.

II. This section shall not apply to:

(a) Pharmacists or a pharmacy that dispenses a drug containing an opioid that is administered to a patient treated in a health care facility required to be licensed under RSA 151.

(b) Dispensing a controlled drug containing opiates to a person residing in a facility operated by the New Hampshire department of corrections or in a county correctional facility who will be administered opioid medications only by a licensed health care professional.

III. A patient may remove the cap sticker or warning label.

2 New Section; Controlled Drug Prescription Health and Safety Program; Verbal Acknowledgment. Amend RSA 318-B by inserting after section 32 the following new section:

318-B:32-a Prescriber Verbal Acknowledgment. Prior to any initial prescription issued for a controlled drug containing opiates, the patient's prescribing practitioner shall receive and document a verbal acknowledgment from the patient of the risk of addiction and overdose for opioids. This requirement shall not apply to a prescription for a person residing in a facility operated by the New Hampshire department of corrections or in a county correctional facility who will be administered opioid medications only by a licensed health care professional.

3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.