Provides for the use of opioid antagonists

Summary of provisions

Section one amends Public Health Law § 3309 to authorize the Commissioner of Health to establish standards for the prescribing, dispensing, distribution, possession and administration of opioid antagonist under the Opioid Overdose Prevention Program. This section expands a health care professional's authority to prescribe, dispense or distribute, directly or indirectly, an opioid antagonist by authorizing such by non-patient-specific prescription. Additionally, this section provides that a pharmacist may dispense through a non-patient-specific prescription. A recipient of the opioid antagonist is authorized to posses, distribute and administer the opioid antagonist. The bill clarifies that any recipient acting reasonably and in good faith pursuant to this section shall not be liable. Lastly, this section requires the program to report annually.

Section two provides that the act shall take effect immediately.

Justification

New York State, like the nation, is in the midst of a severe prescription drug crisis. Prescriptions for opioids, particularly oxycodone and hydrocodone have skyrocketed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that every 19 minutes, one person dies from an accidental overdose or suicide as a result of prescription drug abuse. In 2012, the legislature enacted the seminal I-STOP legislation to track controlled substance prescribing, prevent doctor shopping and weed out unscrupulous doctors. One unfortunate side effect of successfully restricting street access to these controlled substances, is that addicts are turning to other drugs, such as heroin. Heroin has now become the cheaper alternative to opioids. On Long Island it is estimated that heroin addiction has increased fourfold since 2011.

As detailed in the Senate Health Committee's white paper The Prescription Drug Crisis in New York: A Comprehensive Approach, there is a need to look at the complete spectrum of drug abuse in order to address this crisis. While the state has made great advances, much more is needed. One of the topics raised at the roundtables held by the Health Committee in 2011 and 2012, was access to Naloxone (Narcan). Naloxone, sometimes referred to as the drug-overdose antidote, counteracts the life threatening depression of the central nervous system and respiratory system caused by an opioid or heroin overdose. If timely administered, Naloxone can prevent overdose deaths. The Department of Health recommends administering Naloxone directly to an individual overdosing on an opioid after calling 911 and checking for breathing.

In 2005, the state authorized non-medical persons to administer Naloxone to an individual in order to prevent an opioid or heroin overdose from becoming fatal. In 2011, the state adopted good

samaritan protections for witnesses and victims of overdoses. By removing the threat of prosecution, this measure encourages witnesses of an overdose to call 911 before it becomes deadly.

Due to the increase of opioid abuse, expanded access to Naloxone has become a necessary priority to save lives. In Nassau County, EMTs administer Naloxone through their police department's ambulance services and in Suffolk County the state provided first responders with Naloxone. Expanding upon the success of existing programs, more lives could be saved if Naloxone was available to addicts, their families and other people likely to be in a position to assist a person at risk of an opioid related overdose. Currently, parents and family members of addicts are being turned away from Naloxone training programs or are attending the programs and not receiving Naloxone due to the shortage of prescribers participating in such programs. Under this legislation one prescriber would be able to issue a non-patient specific order to numerous programs, allowing for increased access. This legislation will also allow for expanded access through pharmacies. By increasing access, this legislation will equip individuals likely to discover an overdose victim with the ability to save their life.

Legislative history

New Bill

Fiscal implications

None

Effective date

Immediately