BILL NUMBER: S8618

SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to providing for the
automatic rescheduling of certain compounds, mixtures or preparations

 
PURPOSE:

To provide for parity between the New York State schedule and the feder-
al schedule when certain drugs are approved for medical treatment

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends subdivision 5 of section 3307 of the public health law
to provide that the commissioner of the Department of Health shall, by
regulation or emergency regulation, reclassify a compound, mixture, or
preparation containing a substance which is listed as a Schedule I,
Schedule II, Schedule III, Schedule IV, or Schedule V substance or
exempt it, if rescheduled per federal regulation.

              

Section 2 provides for the effective date, which is immediately.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

As of 2022, twenty-three states have granted the authority to schedule
or reschedule controlled substances to be in par with a federal schedul-
ing decision effectuated by regulation. This formulary ensures that even
if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies or reclassi-
fies a drug product for prescription use while the state legislature is
not in session, these drug products will be available for administration
by medical providers to ensure that there are no gaps in services.

This legislation would require the Commissioner of Health to schedule or
reschedule an FDA-approved drug product using regulatory action upon
federal scheduling or rescheduling by the Drug Enforcement Adminis-
tration (DEA). Without the statutory authority to automatically classify
or reclassify certain drug products, New Yorkers might experience a
delay in accessing and benefitting from federally approved breakthrough
therapies, such as MDMA-assisted therapies for post-traumatic stress
disorder or psilocybin treatment for depression.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Undetermined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.