With legislative sessions well under way, some states are calling for more stringent regulation of pain clinics and pain medication prescriptions in their aim to reduce drug overdoses and addictions. Proposed regulation includes mandatory pain clinic licensing, comprehensive databases for tracking prescriptions and stronger standards for prescribing pain medications. Here's a look at five states currently looking to move forward with this legislation.
Georgia: A bill requiring greater scrutiny of Georgia pain clinics has passed the state House and now heads to the Senate. Aiming to curb prescription drug overdoses, the Georgia Pain Management Clinic Act would require all clinics in the state to be licensed and operated by physicians and would impose minimum standards for prescribing pain medication. As part of an ongoing state effort to increase regulation on prescription drugs, the Georgia legislature last year approved a database tracking patient prescriptions.
Kentucky: A Kentucky Senate panel recently heard testimony on a bill aiming to curb pain pill abuse in the state. The bill would call for a stronger definition of what a pain management facility is, require use of the KASPER prescription drug monitoring system by physicians and pharmacists, and require pain management clinics to be owned by licensed physicians.
New Mexico: A bill seeking to limit the prescription of opioid medications was approved by the New Mexico Senate in February. The American Pain Foundation opposes the legislation and asks that the bill be postponed until next year's legislative session to "give all interested parties — both those representing concerns about substance abuse and those representing the undertreatment of pain — time to come together to develop a consensus about what policy changes will address the abuse/overdose problem while simultaneously not impeding access to good care for the many more individuals affected by pain."
New York: A New York bill intended to crack down on prescription drug overdoses continues to draw criticism from state healthcare providers. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman last year unveiled the Internet System for Tracking Overprescribing (I-STOP) bill, which would require physicians to review a patient's prescription history prior to issuing new prescriptions and report every new written prescription in a centralized online database. The Medical Society of the State of New York, representing 30,000 physicians, agrees with the goal of the legislation but argues that mandatory patient record checking and prescription reporting would create undue administrative burdens for doctors. Currently, physicians are not required to track written prescriptions.
West Virginia: The state Senate passed major drug control legislation, heavily backed by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, in early March. The legislation calls for the licensing and inspection of the state’s pain clinics and aims to limit the amount of pills clinics can distribute.
Ohio Man Receives New Motion-Sensor Pain Relief Implant
Pain Clinic Regulation Bill Heads to Georgia Senate
Georgia: A bill requiring greater scrutiny of Georgia pain clinics has passed the state House and now heads to the Senate. Aiming to curb prescription drug overdoses, the Georgia Pain Management Clinic Act would require all clinics in the state to be licensed and operated by physicians and would impose minimum standards for prescribing pain medication. As part of an ongoing state effort to increase regulation on prescription drugs, the Georgia legislature last year approved a database tracking patient prescriptions.
Kentucky: A Kentucky Senate panel recently heard testimony on a bill aiming to curb pain pill abuse in the state. The bill would call for a stronger definition of what a pain management facility is, require use of the KASPER prescription drug monitoring system by physicians and pharmacists, and require pain management clinics to be owned by licensed physicians.
New Mexico: A bill seeking to limit the prescription of opioid medications was approved by the New Mexico Senate in February. The American Pain Foundation opposes the legislation and asks that the bill be postponed until next year's legislative session to "give all interested parties — both those representing concerns about substance abuse and those representing the undertreatment of pain — time to come together to develop a consensus about what policy changes will address the abuse/overdose problem while simultaneously not impeding access to good care for the many more individuals affected by pain."
New York: A New York bill intended to crack down on prescription drug overdoses continues to draw criticism from state healthcare providers. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman last year unveiled the Internet System for Tracking Overprescribing (I-STOP) bill, which would require physicians to review a patient's prescription history prior to issuing new prescriptions and report every new written prescription in a centralized online database. The Medical Society of the State of New York, representing 30,000 physicians, agrees with the goal of the legislation but argues that mandatory patient record checking and prescription reporting would create undue administrative burdens for doctors. Currently, physicians are not required to track written prescriptions.
West Virginia: The state Senate passed major drug control legislation, heavily backed by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, in early March. The legislation calls for the licensing and inspection of the state’s pain clinics and aims to limit the amount of pills clinics can distribute.
Related Articles on Pain Management:
5 Pain Management Physicians Discuss Their Responses to the Opioid EpidemicOhio Man Receives New Motion-Sensor Pain Relief Implant
Pain Clinic Regulation Bill Heads to Georgia Senate