Protecting the Chronic Pain Patient, and Provider

To help combat prescribing limitations and restrictive guidelines, a bill is being proposed in the senate. Citing “federal and state prescribing guidelines adopted in recent years in response to the ongoing drug epidemic that has ravaged New Hampshire and other states,” the bill states:

(1) All decisions regarding the treatment of patients suffering chronic pain shall be made by the treating practitioner even when the treatment is determined to require the prescribing of opioid analgesics. Treating practitioners shall administer care sufficient to treat a patient's chronic pain based on ongoing, objective evaluations of the patient without fear of reprimand or discipline. A treating practitioner's patient care and ordering, prescribing, dispensing, or administering of controlled substances, including opioid analgesics, shall not in any way be dictated by ultimatum to adhere to pre-determined Morphine Milligram Equivalent (MME) guidelines.

(2) Ongoing treatment of those patients who suffer with chronic pain can be determined, managed, and administered by a pain management practitioner who specializes in the treatment of the patient's specific illness or injury, by a practitioner who specializes in the illness from which the patient suffers, or by the patient's primary care practitioner who shall document the consideration of a consultation with a practitioner who specializes in the treatment of the patient's specific illness or injury in the following circumstances…

 

For more information on the bill, click here.

Read the article.