Requires practitioners to check the controlled substance abuse registry before prescribing analgesics

4 Co-sponsors

• Tony Avella
• George D. Maziarz
• Suzi Oppenheimer
• Kevin S. Parker

BILL NUMBER:S5409A

Title of bill

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring pharmacists and practitioners to check the controlled substance abuse registry before prescribing analgesics

Purpose

This bill requires practitioners to check the controlled substance abuse registry before prescribing pain killers to help crack down on pain killer abuse.

Summary of provisions

Section 1 states that this act shall be known as the Michael David Israel Controlled Substance Registry Reform Act.

Section 2 amends section 3308 of the public health law by adding a new subdivision 7 to require the commissioner of health to develop a system to ensure compliance with section 3 of this bill which requires practitioners to check the controlled substance abuse registry before writing a prescription.

Section 3 requires practitioners check the controlled substance registry prior to prescribing any analgesics to determine what other prescriptions the patient is taking, and if their prescription history indicates a possibility of drug abuse.

Section 4 amends the public health to include that pharmacists should check the registry to ensure a patient did not have a prescription filled for the same purpose by another pharmacy.

Section 5 amends the public health law to create the PAIR (Prescription Analgesics Information Registry) which requires real-time reporting to the controlled substance abuse registry and requires pharmacists and doctors match records accordingly in the system and review the system prior to prescribing or dispensing.

In addition, Section 5 requires that data about admittance to substance abuse programs be added to the system so that doctors can see if a patient has a history of substance abuse.

Justification

Abuse of prescription pain killers is a growing and dangerous problem in our state. Fatalities as a result of prescription drug abuse have grown so much that they now are more than the combined total fatalities from the crack epidemic of the 1980s and the black tar heroin epidemic of the 1970s.

One common method that abusers Use to obtain Prescription drugs is through a method called "Doctor Shopping." "Doctor Shopping" is a method in which a person might obtain several prescriptions from several different doctors for the same ailment and then have all the prescriptions filled at various pharmacy locations.

This bill works to reform the broken system in New York State of the Controlled Substance Registry. It provides a real time reporting system that doctors and pharmacists are required to participate in and check prior to prescribing or dispensing controlled substances. By creating a real time system we can crack down on doctor shopping as well as forged prescription.

This bill also gives doctors access to the patients history of admittance to substance abuse centers so they can actively review a patients history of substance abuse. In the case of Michael David Israel, Michael was prescribed controlled substances by his doctor two days after he checked out of a substance abuse center. If the doctor had access to this information he may not have written such a prescription.

The reforms put forward in this bill will help doctors treat patients. They will also help pharmacists prevent doctor Shopping and forgery and will keep controlled substances from making their way onto the street.

Legislative history

New Bill.

Fiscal implications

Some small administrative costs to the state.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that section two of this act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become a law.