BILL NUMBER: S2053

SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to limiting the
initial prescription of a controlled substance for the alleviation of
acute pain from a seven-day supply to a three-day supply

 
PURPOSE:

This bill would limit the number of schedule II, III or IV controlled
substance pain pills initially prescribed to someone suffering from
acute pain. This serves two important purposes: it encourages patients
whose acute pain lasts longer than initially expected to follow-up with
a doctor; and it lessens the number of pills left in medicine cabinets
and available for diversion.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill amends public health law § 3331(5)(b) to limit
              

the initial prescriptions of any schedule II, III or IV controlled
substance for acute pain to a 3 day supply. The term encompasses acci-
dental and intentional pain lasting only a short or finite period of
time. The subsection expressly excludes chronic pain, cancer pain, and
hospice or other end-of-life care.

Section two provides an immediate effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Prescription drug abuse is a growing crisis in both New York State and
the country at large. In this State, there has been armed violence,
death by overdose and suicide, and increasing rates of addiction.

In 2012, 259 million prescriptions were written for opioids, which is
more than enough to give every American adult their own bottle of pain
medication. Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in
the U.S., with 52,404 lethal drug overdoses in 2015. Of these 20,101
overdose deaths were related to prescription pain relievers, and 12,990
overdose deaths were related to heroin.

Additionally, four out of five heroin users indicated that their addi-
tion started with legally prescribed opioids, which, once the
prescription expired, left them driven to find street drugs. These drugs
are unregulated and extremely inconsistent in dosages, which plays a
factor in overdoses.

In 2016, the NYS legislature and the Governor approved a package of
bills to address the opioid/heroin crisis, including the implementation
of a 7-day supply of opioids for acute pain. Recently, the Department of
Health circulated guidance to health care practitioners that highlighted
newly released CDC guidelines for prescribing opioids in patients with
chronic pain, and recommends an initial duration of therapy of 3 days or
less for acute pain. A recent report in the Morbidity and Mortality
Weekly Report, the main CDC publication for public health information,
indicates that dependency on opioids can occur within 3 days of contin-
ued use.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2017-2018: S6256 (Hannon)

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.