NYSDA Alerts
Tuesday, June 12, 2012I-Stop (opioid abuse) Legislation Passes Both Houses
NYSDA has been actively monitoring the Internet System for Tracking Over-Prescribing Act, or I-STOP legislation that has been in the news, and advocating for safeguards for the dental profession and patients. The genesis of the I-STOP legislation was the problem of the overuse and abuse of opioid drugs. This issue came to a head over the past year with several deaths at pharmacies during hold ups for controlled substances. The Governor and State Legislature placed this on a fast track and the bill passed both houses with ease today: 58-0 in the Senate; 116-0 in the Assembly. It was released and we expect will be signed into law by the Governor very soon. NYSDA achieved all our goals in molding this legislation, since exempting the dental profession from this legislation was not an option given that we do prescribe pain medication for our patients. However, NYSDA clearly had an impact on the debate and practically all of our concerns were reflected in the final document. Below you will find links to the actual bill language and a full summary of the provisions in the bill.
This bill will result in a real-time database/registry that gives dentists, physicians, and other prescribers, as well as pharmacists, information on a patient’s controlled substance prescription history before prescribing the most powerful and addictive drugs; and it will require pharmacists to input information into the registry for that purpose; reclassify hydrocodone and tramadol to reflect the risk of abuse that comes with their use; and kicks off the process to establish mandatory “e-prescribing” of controlled substances and all other drugs by the end of 2014 to prevent runaway prescription fraud and improve the delivery of quality health care. The bill also establishes a safe drug disposal program for consumers who possess unused controlled substance medication.
I-STOP Bill
