State Senator Andrew Jones has pre-filed legislation which would require controlled substances certifying boards to adopt rules regarding patient opiate risk education.
Medical practitioners would be subject to these rules.
Senate Bill 48, also known as the Patient Opiate Risk Education Act, specifies that opiate risk education includes, but is not limited to the following:
- Information on the risks of addiction and overdose associated with opiod drugs and the dangers of taking opioid drugs and alcohol, benzodiazepines and other central nervous system depressants
- The reasons why the prescription given is necessary
- Alternative treatment that may be available
- Information on the risks associated with the use of the drugs being prescribed, specifically that opioids are highly addicitive, even when taken as prescribed, that there is a risk of developing a physical or physiological dependence on the controlled substance and that the risks of taking more opioids than prescribed or mixing sedatives, benzos or alcohol with opioids may result in fatal respiratory depression.
The 2019 regular session of the Alabama Legislature will begin on March, 5. To view this Bill, you can click the link provided below.