Democratic leaders have finished a bill to fight the opiate epidemic, with both chambers poised to pass the legislation this week, according to Senate Ways and Means Chairman Karen Spilka.
The conferees on the six-member committee finalized their agreement Monday afternoon, Spilka said. The House of Representatives will take up a bill to fight the opiate epidemic Wednesday, with the Senate following suit on Thursday, Spilka told WGBH News later Tuesday evening.
Legislators want to allow for 24-hour substance abuse evaluations for patients who arrive at hospitals or facilities because of an overdose. Spilka said the bill is clear that patients can refuse that treatment, which was part of the House’s plan passed in January.
The bill will include voluntary school screening for substance abuse, a measure that was a key part of the Senate’s bill they passed in October, as well as driver’s education programs on substance abuse and school policy reviews.
The bill would also allow patients to receive fewer pills in a prescription than the maximum the doctor suggests, a measure sometimes known as “partial-fill.” Doctors would have to inform patients that they may receive fewer pills.
The conferees have agreed to limit initial opiate prescriptions to new patients to a seven day supply, with some exceptions for chronic and terminal illnesses. All opiate prescriptions to minors would be limited to seven day supplies.
“I do believe that this bill has a profound ability to make an impact on people’s lives, so it was absolutely crucial that we took the time to get this right,” Spilka said.
In an interview on WGBH’s Greater Boston Tuesday night, House Speaker Robert DeLeo said he prefers the 24-hour treatment period and seven-day prescription limit the House passed over harsher proposals Gov. Charlie Baker had recommended.
Senate President Stan Rosenberg agreed, saying that Baker started a process that the House improved with their version of the bill. The Senate’s bill did not address the issues.
“Although it may have seemed like an easy situation, because of course everyone said we have to do something about substance abuse, it wasn’t so easy in terms of the particular parameters of the bill,” DeLeo said when asked why the bill took months to emerge from conference.
“This is a very important subject and hopefully we could have got it done sooner. But this is one of those subject matters where everyone agrees we had to do something. But I will also tell you what I heard, at least from my membership, and possibly what Stan heard from his, a lot of people had a lot of different opinions, in terms of what was to be the final resolution,” DeLeo said.
Rosenberg said the new bill is one of the strongest pieces of opiate legislation yet in the nation and once it becomes law, will be replicated across the country.
The bill would require medical school students to receive training on substance abuse disorders, on the risks of opiate addiction and alternatives to addictive pain medication. Doctors would be required to check a patient’s history through the prescription drug monitoring program.
Doctors “would actually have to sit down and have a conversation with the patient before issuing a prescription,” Spilka said.
“This conference report focuses on intervention, education and prevention, and incorporates the best ideas from both versions of the bills. We believe that provisions of this report will have a major impact towards reversing the opioid epidemic in the Commonwealth and will provide several new tools to help break the cycle of opioid abuse,” Spilka and House Ways and Means Chairman Brian Dempsey, the top House negotiator, said in a statement on the bill.
The legislation would also create a drug stewardship program run by the Department of Public Health to facilitate drug disposal.
Doctors would also be required to enter into a written pain management agreement with the patient.
The bill conference committee’s report was filed Tuesday evening.
