BILL NUMBER: S591

SPONSOR: BENJAMIN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to training for pres-
cribers of certain pain medications

 
PURPOSE:

Updates training for prescribers of controlled substances to include
best practices for patient centered care, social determents of health,
and co-occurring disorders

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends paragraph c of subdivision 3 of Section
3309-a of the Public Health Law to require Commissioner of Health, in
consultation with the State Education Department, and the Office of
Addiction Services and Supports to update the course work or training in
pain management, palliative care, and addiction for medical profes-
              

sionals that prescribe controlled substances to include best practices
for providing patient centered care in consideration of social determi-
nants of health and co-occurring disorders.

Section 2 of the bill amends paragraph f of subdivision 3 of Section
3309-a of the Public Health law to expand the required course work or
training for licensed medical professionals that prescribe controlled
substances to include techniques that will reduce the likelihood of
overdose and the spread of blood-borne diseases by those who use drugs,
medications used for the treatment of addiction, including information
about becoming a buprenorphine prescriber.

Section 3 of the bill includes the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Under current law, every licensed medical professional that holds a
federal controlled substance registration from the Drug Enforcement
Agency, the Justice Department, or any medical resident who is prescrib-
ing for a facility, must take a three hours of course work during each
three year registration period on pain management, palliative care, and
addiction.

This training has contributed significantly to reductions in the over-
prescribing of opioids in New York. However, as the overdose epidemic
has progressed and as prescribing practices have evolved, new issues
have emerged, as have new strategies for addressing these issues. For
example, even as overprescribing decreased, overdoses and deaths contin-
ued to rise as a result of addictions to non-prescribed opioids and
other controlled substances. Medical professionals can play an essential
role in identifying addiction early and intervening before it worsens.

Separately, because of concerns about the consequences of doctors being
overly-aggressive in weaning patients from prescribed opioids, in April
2019, the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released an
advisory against misapplication of their 2016 Guideline for Prescribing
Opioids for Chronic Pain.

Additionally, medication assisted treatment is considered the gold stan-
dard for treating patients with opioid use disorder. However, a lack of
prescribers has limited access to these medications. This training
provides an important opportunity to educate prescribers about the use
of medications, including buprenorphine, in addressing opioid use disor-
ders, and about the training and waiver requirements that practitioners
must complete in order to prescribe buprenorphine to patients with an
opioid use disorder. Providing information on how to become a prescriber
of buprenorphine may encourage more medical professionals to obtain the
needed waiver, thereby increasing patient access to this lifesaving
intervention.

Ensuring that practitioners are aware of current concerns and are
educated about the most up-to-date best practices in pain management,
palliative care and addiction will maximize the impact of this important
training, thereby improving patient health and reducing unnecessary
addiction, pain and mortality.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2019-20: S7102 /A9829

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the state.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
120th day