What's happening
This bill requires health practitioners to discuss opioid risks with patients before prescribing and to counsel on overdose risks and opioid antagonists like naloxone.
Why it matters
Requires deeper, recurring conversations between prescribers and patients about opioid risks. , not just a one-time warning—these must happen before both the first and third prescriptions, increasing opportunities for patient understanding and awareness.
Mandates explicit counseling about overdose dangers and the availability of opioid antagonists (like naloxone) for certain prescriptions. this could help more patients (and families) recognize life-threatening situations and know how to respond, potentially saving lives.
Expands focus beyond just addiction, covering drug interactions and the dangers of mixing opioids with substances like alcohol or benzodiazepines. this aims to address a wider range of overdose risks, not just misuse.
Standardizes what information must be given and who must receive it (including minors’ guardians), and requires the state to develop clear practitioner guidelines. this could reduce gaps in communication and ensure more consistent patient education across healthcare providers.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Warn Patients About Opioids
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to health
- Print number 7285a
- Amend (t) and recommit to health
- Referred to health
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Doctors Must Warn on Opioids
In Senate Committee · Health · Sponsor Pete Harckham
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
7285--A
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 18, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring health practitioners to discuss with patients the risks associated with certain pain medications before prescribing such medications; and in relation to opioid analgesic prescriptions
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 3309-b to read as follows:
§ 3309-b. Practitioner and patient discussions; opioid prescriptions. 1. Prior to issuing the initial prescription of a Schedule II controlled substance for the treatment of pain or any other opioid drug which is a prescription drug for acute or chronic pain and again prior to issuing the third prescription of the course of treatment, a practitioner shall discuss with the patient, or the patient's parent or guardian if the patient is under eighteen years of age and is not an emancipated minor, the risks associated with the drugs being prescribed, including but not limited to:
(a) the risks of addiction and overdose associated with opioid drugs and the dangers of taking opioid drugs with alcohol, benzodiazepines and other central nervous system depressants;
(b) the reasons why the prescription is necessary;
(c) alternative treatments that may be available; and
(d) the risks associated with the use of the drugs being prescribed, specifically that opioids are highly addictive, even when taken as prescribed, that there is a risk of developing a physical or psychological dependence on the controlled substance, and that the risks of taking more opioids than prescribed, or mixing sedatives, benzodiaze-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10262-03-9
A. 7285--A 2
pines or alcohol with opioids, can result in fatal respiratory depression.
2. The department shall develop and make available to practitioners guidelines for the discussion required by this section.
§ 2. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 3309-c to read as follows:
§ 3309-c. Opioid analgesic prescription. 1. For the first opioid analgesic prescription of a calendar year that is greater than a one week's supply, the prescribing physician shall counsel the patient on the risks of overdose, and inform the patient of the availability of an opioid antagonist, including, but not limited to, naloxone.
2. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(a) "Opioid analgesics" means the medicines buprenorphine, butorphanol, codeine, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, levorphanol, meperidine, methadone, morphine, nalbuphine, oxycodone, oxymorphone, pentazocine, propoxyphene as well as their brand names, isomers and combinations.
(b) "Opioid antagonist" means an FDA-approved drug that, when administered, negates or neutralizes in whole or in part the pharmacological effects of an opioid in the body. The opioid antagonist is limited to naloxone or other medications approved by the department for this purpose.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth 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 effective 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.