BURLINGTON — A new law signed into law by Gov. Peter Shumlin on Wednesday limits the amount of opiates that can be prescribed for minor procedures.
Prescription painkillers can trigger long-term dependency, and the governor and lawmakers hope the new law will prevent patients from becoming addicted.
Harry Chen, the commissioner of Department of Health, said the number of pills that can be prescribed under the new law will be determined through the rule-making process and will involve discussions with providers and pharmacists.
The law also mandates education for providers and patients on how to safely use and dispose of opioid prescriptions.
Shumlin says he hopes that regulating prescribed doses of painkillers will prevent patients from becoming addicted. Nationwide, opioids such as OxyContin are being prescribed at extremely high rates, the governor said.
OxyContin was first marketed as a groundbreaking painkiller that was not addictive even though there was scientific evidence that patients could get hooked on the drug, Shumlin said.
In 2007, Purdue Pharma, the makers of OxyContin pleaded guilty to charges of misleading consumers about the effects of the drug.
Since then, 165,000 Americans have died from opioid addiction, Shumlin said.
“People are pulling on [my] shirt sleeve or jacket sleeve with tears in their eyes saying I lost my son to FDA approved painkillers,” he said.
Addicts have told Shumlin that they began using heroin after prescription opioids became unavailable. The regulation of pharmaceutical opiates, he says, will help to break the dependency that leads to heroin use and addiction.
Many members of the medical community oppose the new law. Doctors say the government should not be involved in the practice of medicine.
But Chen, a former emergency room physician, said there are inconsistencies in the way opioids are prescribed that must be addressed.
He pointed out that some providers write prescriptions for four pills, while others give 50 pills for pain after the same surgery.
Shumlin said while the state is committed to making painkillers accessible to patients who are in chronic pain, the number of prescriptions issued to chronic pain sufferers exceeds the number of prescriptions handed out.
The law also classifies pharmacists as healthcare providers, a change that many pharmacists and Vermont pharmacy students lobbied for at the Statehouse for earlier this year. The change allows pharmacists to charge for consultations with patients, according to James Marmar, Executive Director of Vermont Pharmacist Sponsors.
