A joint committee has proposed a set of final rules for Florida's pain clinics which would set restrictions on how much pain medication can be prescribed, according to a news report by The Ledger.
The proposed rule, which is pending approval by the state boards governing medical and osteopathic physicians, calls for individual full-time physicians in pain management clinics to write an average three prescriptions of "heavy-duty" pain medication per patient. Physicians can also only write a maximum of 150 prescriptions per 24-hour period. The prescriptions cover schedule II or schedule III substances, such as Xanax, oxycodone and others. There is a formula included in the proposal for part-time pain physicians as well, according to the report.
However, the proposed rules have raised some questions. Some committee members and a state attorney have called the task of coming up with limits on pain medications "unworkable" and say it "can't be done adequately," according to the report.
For example, the proposed rule says prescriptions given for a one-month period will be marked as "do not fill before" a particular date and won't count in the daily limit until the first day it could be filled. A practice administrator in Sarasota County, Fla., said this poses a problem for patients who can't afford to pay for a month's pain medication at once.
Read The Ledger's news report about proposed rules on pain prescriptions in Florida.
Read other coverage about pain prescriptions:
- Florida Pain Physician Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison for Illegal Drug Distribution, Medicare Fraud
- Florida Board of Medicine Comes Down Hard on Pain Physicians Guilty of Fraud
The proposed rule, which is pending approval by the state boards governing medical and osteopathic physicians, calls for individual full-time physicians in pain management clinics to write an average three prescriptions of "heavy-duty" pain medication per patient. Physicians can also only write a maximum of 150 prescriptions per 24-hour period. The prescriptions cover schedule II or schedule III substances, such as Xanax, oxycodone and others. There is a formula included in the proposal for part-time pain physicians as well, according to the report.
However, the proposed rules have raised some questions. Some committee members and a state attorney have called the task of coming up with limits on pain medications "unworkable" and say it "can't be done adequately," according to the report.
For example, the proposed rule says prescriptions given for a one-month period will be marked as "do not fill before" a particular date and won't count in the daily limit until the first day it could be filled. A practice administrator in Sarasota County, Fla., said this poses a problem for patients who can't afford to pay for a month's pain medication at once.
Read The Ledger's news report about proposed rules on pain prescriptions in Florida.
Read other coverage about pain prescriptions:
- Florida Pain Physician Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison for Illegal Drug Distribution, Medicare Fraud
- Florida Board of Medicine Comes Down Hard on Pain Physicians Guilty of Fraud