Amendment #860 to H4600

Naloxone Access & Education

Mr. Lawn of Watertown moves to amend the bill by adding the following section:

SECTION XXXX. Chapter 94C of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 18C the following new section:

Section 18D. (a)For the purposes of this section, the term opioid antagonist shall mean, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, any drug approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of persons experiencing an opioid related overdose.

(b) If a practitioner issues a prescription for an opioid contained in Schedule II of section 3, a practitioner shall inform the patient on the potential adverse risks of the prescription opioid and that opioid antagonists are available to the patient, and where applicable, a designee of the patient, or, for a patient who is a minor, to the minor’s parent or guardian if at least 1 of the following conditions is present: i) the patient is prescribed an opioid which individually or in aggregate with other medications is more than equal to 50 morphine milligram equivalents per day; (ii) the patient is prescribed any dose of an opioid when a benzodiazepine has been prescribed in the past 30 days or will be prescribed at the visit; or (iii)  the patient presents with an increased risk of overdose, including a patient with a history of overdose, a patient with a history of substance use disorder .

(c) If a pharmacist is to dispense an opioid contained in schedule II of section 3, a pharmacist shall inform the patient on the potential adverse risks of the prescription opioid and offer to dispense an opioid antagonist to the patient, and where applicable, a designee of the patient, or, for a patient who is a minor, to the minor’s parent or guardian.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #860 to H4600

Naloxone Access & Education