Enacts the Internet System for Tracking Over-Prescribing (I-STOP) Act

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1 of the bill establishes the title of the Act as the "Internet System for Tracking Over-Prescribing(I-STOP) Act".

Section 2 adds a new section 3343-a to the Public Health Law to: (1) require the Department of Health to establish and maintain an on-line, real-time controlled substance reporting system to track the prescription and dispensing of all schedule II and III controlled substances, and other schedule IV and V controlled substances as determined by the Department of Health commissioner after consultation with the advisory board; (2) require practitioners to review a patient's controlled substance prescription history on the on-line, real-time controlled substance reporting system prior to prescribing any schedule II or III controlled substances, and other schedule IV or V controlled substances as determined by the Department of Health Commissioner after consultation with the advisory board; (3) require practitioners or their agents to report statutorily-required information to the on-line, real-time controlled substance reporting system upon issuing a schedule II or III controlled substance, or certain schedule IV or V controlled substances as determined by the Department of Health commissioner after consultation with the advisory board; (4) require pharmacists or their agents to review the on-line, real-time controlled substance reporting system to confirm the person presenting a prescription, for a schedule II and III controlled substance or certain schedule IV and V controlled substances as determined by the Department of Health Commissioner after consultation with the advisory board substance, possesses a legitimate prescription prior to dispensing such substance; (5) require pharmacists or their agents to report statutorily-required information to the on-line, real-time controlled substance reporting system upon dispensing a schedule II and III controlled substances, and other schedule IV and V controlled substances as determined by the Department of Health Commissioner after consultation with the advisory board; (6) prohibit the disclosure or unauthorized access of all statutorily-required information collected on the on-line, real-time controlled substance reporting system; (7) provide an e-prescribing exemption for practitioners reporting to and pharmacists consulting with the on-line, real-time controlled substance reporting system if such practitioner or pharmacist e-prescribes a schedule II or III controlled substances, or a schedule IV or V controlled substances as determined by the Department of Health Commissioner after consultation

with the advisory board; (8) provide immunity for public officers acting reasonably and in good faith; (9) provide civil penalties for those persons who knowingly violate the a provision of section 3343-a of the Public Health Law; (10) provide continuing education programs to practitioners and pharmacists about the proper uses of the on-line, real-time controlled substance reporting system; (11) order the Commissioner of Health to promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate this section; and (12) prohibit the Commissioner of Health from imposing a fee or tax on a practitioner or pharmacist for the specific operation of the on-line, real-time controlled substance reporting system.

Section 3 adds a new section 3343-b to the Public Health Law to create an advisory board to assist the Commissioner of the Health Department to: (1) determine which schedule IV or V controlled substances shall require practitioners to consult with and report to and pharmacists to consult with the on-line, real-time controlled substance reporting system created by 3343-a of the Public Health Law; and (2) to implement procedures and safeguards for practitioners and pharmacists who are required to consult and/or report to the on-line, real-time controlled substance reporting system created by 3343-a of the Public Health Law.

Section 4 is the effective date; this act shall take effect immediately; provided however, that subdivisions 2,3,4,5,6 and 7 of section 3343-a of the Public Health Law as added by section two of this act shall take effect one year after such effective date.

Justification

The United States is experiencing an epidemic. Americans consume 80 percent of the supply of pain pills in the world and recent data collected by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has found that more than 7 million Americans admit to abusing prescription drugs. Further, the DEA has concluded that prescriptions drugs have surpassed marijuana as the number one gateway drug for first-time drug abusers in the United States. And, emergency room visits for reactions to opioid painkillers, ,like oxycodone, have more than doubled from 2004 (144,600) to 2008 (305,900).(1)

New York State is not immune from this epidemic. In New York, the number of prescriptions for all narcotic painkillers has increased from 16.6 million in 2007 to nearly 22.5 million in 2009. In a report released in May of 2011, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene found that the rate of prescription pain medication misuse by New York City residents who are 12 or older has increased by 40 percent from 2002 to 2009. In Buffalo, Catholic Health system, New York's largest methadone clinic outside of New York City, is beginning to reorganize its services to accommodate an increase in care needed to treat the number of addicted expecting mothers and their newborns.(2) This past summer in Nassau County, Opana ER, an opioid, began to replace oxyContin, as the drug manufacturer began altering OxyContin's current formula to prevent its abuse. Specifically, as Nassau County Medicaid prescriptions for oxyContin decreased 43 percent between August and February, Nassau County Medicaid prescriptions for Opana ER increased 45 percent during the same time period.(3)

The solution to the over-prescription of controlled substances, such as oxyContin, is practitioner and pharmacist awareness. Yeshiva University conducted a two-year review of administrative and medical records of more than 1,600 primary care patients who received regular prescription opioids and found that less than half of the patients saw their physicians regularly. This legislation would connect practitioners and pharmacists to a greater source of centralized information to avoid the over-prescribing, and help identify and treat patients who seek to abuse prescription drugs. This legislation will also furnish objective and highly-relevant data to bona fide healthcare professionals, while shining a spotlight on those who enable and profit from drug abuse.

43 states have some form of prescription drug monitoring laws. New York State currently operates a limited, prescription monitoring program.

Prior legislative history

New bill.

Fiscal implications

To be determined.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately; provided however, that subdivisions 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 of section 3343-a of the Public Health Law as added by section two of this act shall take effect one year after such effective date.

Footnotes

(1) Roni Caryn Rabin, Hazards' Emergencies Over Legal Drugs Increase, New York Times, June 21, 2010.

(2) Henry L. Davis, Treating the Tiniest Addicts Mothers' Pill Abuse Leads to Newborns' Exposure, Buffalo News, June 1, 2011. (3) Timothy Bolger, Officials Warn of New Drug of Choice on Long Island, Long Island Press, May 10, 2011.