What's happening
This bill requires certain medical professions in New York to receive education on safe opioid prescribing practices.
Why it matters
Aims to reduce opioid misuse by ensuring that future and current prescribers—including doctors, dentists, nurses, optometrists, and podiatrists—receive specific training on safe opioid prescribing, pain management alternatives, and recognizing patients at risk for addiction.
Encourages evidence-based pain management by requiring education on multimodal (non-opioid and combination) treatments and guidelines for when opioid prescriptions are appropriate, which could shift clinical practices toward safer options.
Includes education on identifying and managing substance use disorders as chronic diseases, potentially leading to earlier intervention and better long-term outcomes for patients with opioid use issues.
Allows flexibility for colleges and licensing boards—while the training is mandated, it is not required as a condition for graduation unless a college chooses to make it so, balancing public health priorities with educational autonomy.
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Who cares
State boards of dentistry, medicine, nursing, optometry and podiatry
They would jointly implement an opioid safe-prescribing curriculum by regulation beginning August 1, 2019.
Medical, nursing, optometry, dental and osteopathic schools
They could offer the curriculum without being required to make it a graduation requirement, though they could choose to do so after August 1, 2019.
Education providers seeking licensing-board approval
They could offer the curriculum if approved by the licensing boards.
Pain-management and substance-use treatment clinicians
The curriculum would cover alternatives to opioid medications, safe prescribing, patient risk factors and managing substance use disorders as a chronic disease.
Headline styles
Teach Doctors Safe Opioid Prescribing
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to higher education
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
10114
IN ASSEMBLY
March 15, 2018
Introduced by M. of A. O'DONNELL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring certain professions to receive education regarding prescribing opioids
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new article 130-A to read as follows:
ARTICLE 130-A
MEDICAL PROFESSION EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS
SUBARTICLE 1. OPIOID PRESCRIPTION EDUCATION Section 6517. Definitions.
6518. Opioid prescription education.
§ 6517. Definitions. For the purposes of this article:
1. "College" shall mean:
(a) a medical college;
(b) a medical training facility, including a school of nursing and a school of optometry;
(c) a dental school; or
(d) an osteopathic medical college or osteopathic medical training facility.
2. "Controlled substance" shall be defined as in subdivision five of section 220.00 of the penal law.
3. "Licensing boards" shall refer to:
(a) the state board of dentistry;
(b) the state board of medicine;
(c) the state board of nursing;
(d) the state board of optometry; and
(e) the state board of podiatry.
4. "Opioid" shall mean any of the following:
(a) A preparation or derivative of opium;
(b) A synthetic narcotic that has opiate-like effects but is not derived from opium; or
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14928-01-8
A. 10114 2
(c) A group of naturally occurring peptides that bind at or otherwise influence opiate receptors, including opioid agonist.
§ 6518. Opioid prescription education. 1. Curriculum. Beginning August first, two thousand nineteen, the licensing boards shall, by joint regulation, implement a safe prescription of a controlled substance containing an opioid curriculum. Such curriculum may be offered in colleges or by providers approved by such licensing boards and shall include all of the following:
(a) current, age-appropriate information relating to pain management;
(b) multimodal treatments for chronic pain that minimizes the use of a controlled substance containing an opioid;
(c) instruction on safe methods of prescribing a controlled substance containing an opioid that follows guideline-based care should a controlled substance containing an opioid be indicated;
(d) identification of patients who have risk factors for developing problems with prescriptions of a controlled substance containing an opioid;
(e) training on managing substance use disorders as a chronic disease; and
(f) alternatives to opioid pain medications.
2. Separation from standardized curriculum. Such education required under this subarticle shall not be considered to be a mandate of the curriculum necessary for graduation. Nothing in this article shall be construed to prohibit a college from requiring such curriculum to be necessary to graduate after August first, two thousand nineteen.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such date.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.