Amendment #42 to H3944

Cautionary Statements on Opioid Prescriptions

Ms. DiZoglio of Methuen moves to amend the bill by adding the following section:-

“SECTION XX.  The first paragraph of section 21 of said chapter 94C, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:-

A pharmacist filling a prescription for an opiate shall ensure that cautionary statement promulgated by DPH explaining against the risks of dependency, addiction, and heroin abuse, shall be bolded and either contained within the prescription packaging or on the prescription container.

SECTION XY. Said section 21 of said chapter 94C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the figure “III”, in line 26, the words:- , excluding opiates.

SECTION XZ Said section 21 of said chapter 94C, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the third paragraph the following paragraph:-

The department of public health shall produce and distribute either in written or electronic form to pharmacies, not including institutional pharmacies, warning pamphlets for consumers relative to opiates that include educational information about: (i) the addictive properties of opiates; (ii) risk of dependency and addiction; (iii) risk of heroin addiction and abuse; (iv) misuses by adults and children; (v) addiction support and treatment resources; and (vi) the telephone helpline operated by the bureau of substance abuse services established in section 18 of chapter 17.  A pharmacist shall distribute the pamphlet to the consumer when dispensing an opiate.”