S.243, which the Senate approved on a voice vote with no opposition, would give authority to the health commissioner to make rules guiding the prescription of opiate painkillers for certain medical procedures.
The bill makes a broad array of changes aimed at reducing the availability of opiates, increasing education and prevention efforts, and looking at alternative forms of pain management.
Gov. Peter Shumlin named limits on prescription opiates as one of his key priorities for his final year in office in his annual State of the State address in January.
After hearing from pharmacists, doctors and others concerned about the implications of a “one size fits all” approach, the Senate Health and Welfare Committee opted not to set a limit on how many pills can be prescribed to a patient at a time, said Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden, while introducing the bill on the floor.
The panel will also advise on rules for doctors and pharmacists entering information into the Vermont Prescription Monitoring System, a database that tracks the prescribing of certain types of medication to patients.
The bill also aims to tackle lengthy waiting lists at opiate abuse treatment centers by increasing the availability of buprenorphine through primary care providers. The bill allows for primary care physicians or nurses to form a treatment team. The hope is that the increased capacity in the “spoke” part of the system will take pressure off the “hubs,” Lyons said on the floor.
Under the legislation, a 0.5 percent fee levied on pharmaceutical manufacturers would be increased to 1.5 percent, with the revenue going to fund several initiatives, including an analysis of alternative methods of pain management, a drug take-back program, and support for small hospitals in managing antimicrobial resistance.
The bill won wide support on the floor, though Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, did raise questions about how the legislation would address waiting lists for treatment.
Sears said his constituents are faced with lengthy drives to treatment hubs in neighboring counties to get treatment and are sometimes shut out because of waitlists. Some people must go to Massachusetts for treatment, he said.
As the legislation proceeds, he hopes it will become “more mindful of the gaps in this state of treatment that is available to addicts.”
The bill is due for a final vote in the Senate on Thursday, then will cross to the House.
