What's happening
This bill protects health care practitioners from discipline or prosecution for appropriately prescribing pain medication, while maintaining safeguards against misuse.
Why it matters
Reduces fear among healthcare practitioners. By explicitly shielding providers from discipline or prosecution when prescribing pain medication in accordance with accepted guidelines and the standard of care, the bill aims to remove a significant barrier that can lead to under-treatment of pain due to providers’ legal anxieties.
Clarifies professional expectations and legal limits. The legislation sets clear definitions for when prescribing pain medication is considered appropriate and lawful, while explicitly stating that actions like unlawful prescribing, diversion, or aiding suicide remain prosecutable, ensuring the law is not a carte blanche for all prescribing behaviors.
Addresses pain for vulnerable and complex patients. It makes explicit that protections and expectations apply to all patients—including those with chronic pain, end-of-life pain, or a history of addiction—while still allowing special caution for those with chemical dependencies, potentially improving pain management for marginalized groups.
Establishes accountability for both over- and under-treatment. The bill also allows for discipline against practitioners who fail to adequately treat pain according to accepted standards, reinforcing that under-treatment of pain can be as much a professional failing as over-prescription.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Require Pain Medicine Access
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
11 Co-sponsors
History
- Referred to health
- Referred to health
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2932
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 23, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. GOTTFRIED, CYMBROWITZ, GALEF, GUNTHER, PAULIN, PEOPLES-STOKES, ROSENTHAL, COLTON, ABINANTI, JAFFEE, SEPULVEDA -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. DINOWITZ, HOOPER, LUPARDO, PERRY, RIVERA, TITONE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to pain management
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature finds that thousands of New Yorkers suffer needlessly from debilitating pain every year, a condition that can be remedied by the appropriate use of pain medications and other pain management methods. Health care professionals often hesitate to prescribe or administer these medications for fear of reprisal by public health or criminal justice authorities. This legislation follows the well-established public policy that the prescribing and administration of pain medications is a legitimate medical intervention that can improve the quality of life and avoid needless suffering. It is a well established medical, moral and ethical proposition that it is acceptable to relieve pain by medications, even if the result is or may be decreased consciousness and shortening of life and the indirect hastening of death. However many health care practitioners fear that the legal system may not recognize that principle. While this legislation intends to encourage the appropriate prescribing of pain medications, it does not intend in any way to diminish New York state's strong public policy and laws against the abuse of drugs.
§ 2. The public health law is amended by adding a new article 28-F to read as follows:
ARTICLE 28-F
PAIN MANAGEMENT Section 2899-b. Definitions.
2899-c. Limitation on professional discipline or criminal
liability.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02265-01-7
A. 2932 2
2899-d. Acts subject to professional discipline or prosecution.
2899-e. Applicability.
§ 2899-b. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
1. "Accepted guideline" means a peer reviewed clinical practice guideline for pain management developed, as applicable, by a nationally-recognized health care professional or specialty association, or a nationally-recognized pain management association.
2. "Health care practitioner" means a health care practitioner licensed or certified under title eight of the education law, who is authorized to order, prescribe, administer or dispense pain-relieving medications or other treatment for the relief of pain.
3. "Pain-relieving medication" means a prescription drug, including a controlled substance classified as schedule II or other controlled substance, used for pain relief.
4. "Professional discipline" means professional discipline under title two-A of article two of this chapter or title eight of the education law.
§ 2899-c. Limitation on professional discipline or criminal liability. A health care practitioner shall not be subject to professional discipline or criminal liability for ordering, prescribing, administering or dispensing pain-relieving medications or other treatments for the purpose of alleviating or controlling pain when practicing within the health care practitioner's lawful scope of practice and in accordance with the reasonable standard of care of the health care practitioner's profession, including an accepted guideline.
§ 2899-d. Acts subject to professional discipline or prosecution. 1. Nothing in this article shall prohibit professional discipline or criminal prosecution of a health care practitioner for failure to comply with applicable state or federal law, including medical record keeping; homicide or promoting, assisting, causing or aiding suicide under the penal law; or unlawful prescribing; or unlawful diversion.
2. Nothing in this article shall prohibit professional discipline of a health care practitioner for failure to adequately prescribe, order, administer or dispense pain-relieving medications or other treatments for the relief of pain in accordance with the reasonable standard of care of the health care practitioner's profession, including an accepted guideline.
§ 2899-e. Applicability. This article shall apply to the treatment of all patients with pain, including dying patients, patients with acute pain and patients with chronic pain, regardless of the patient's prior or current chemical dependency or addiction; provided that a reasonable standard of care of the health care practitioner's profession, including accepted guidelines, may make special provisions relating to prior or current chemical dependency or addiction.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately, provided that subdivision 2 of section 2899-d of the public health law, as added by section two of this act, shall take effect on the first of January of the second year after it shall have become a law.
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