More Opioid Legislation Passes House

By Jack Kramer

Correspondent

HARTFORD, CT - The House of Representatives this week by unanimous vote, approved Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s latest initiatives to combat the opioid crisis in the state of Connecticut.

The legislation, which was co-sponsored by shoreline legislators Vincent Candelora, James Albis and Noreen Kokoruda, next moves to the State Senate for their consideration.

The legislation, An Act Preventing Prescription Opioid Diversion and Abuse. has several provisions, including:

· Increases data sharing between state agencies regarding opioid abuse and opioid overdose deaths;

· Facilitates the destruction of unused prescription medication by utilizing registered nurses employed for home health care agencies;

· Increases security of controlled substances prescriptions by requiring scheduled drugs be electronically prescribed;

· Allows patients to file a voluntary non-opioid form in their medical records indicating that they do not want to be prescribed or administered opioid drugs;

· Expands requirements about information regarding provider communications about of the risk and signs of addiction, and the dangers of drug interactions to cover all opioid prescriptions – current law is just for minors;

· Reduces the maximum opioid drug prescription for minors from seven days to five days;

· Requires the Department of Public Health to put information online about how prescribers can obtain certification for suboxone and other medicines to treat opioid use disorder;

· Requires individual and group health insurers to cover medically necessary detox treatment, as defined by American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) criteria;

· Requires alcohol and drug treatment facilities use ASAM criteria for admission guidelines.

“Opioid addiction and prescription drug abuse is a disease that is impacting nearly every community and people of every background. It is a complex crisis that does not have one root cause, nor does it have simple solution, but we need to do everything in our power to treat and prevent it,” Malloy said.