SENATE BILL 35

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2018

INTRODUCED BY

William P. Soules

AN ACT

RELATING TO OPIOID OVERDOSE; REQUIRING THE COUNSELING OF PATIENTS ON THE RISKS OF OVERDOSE AND ABOUT OPIOID OVERDOSE REVERSAL MEDICATION; AMENDING AND ENACTING SECTIONS OF THE PAIN RELIEF ACT.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 24-2D-1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1999, Chapter 126, Section 1) is amended to read:

     "24-2D-1. SHORT TITLE.--[This act] Chapter 24, Article 2D NMSA 1978 may be cited as the "Pain Relief Act"."

     SECTION 2. Section 24-2D-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1999, Chapter 126, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:

     "24-2D-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Pain Relief Act:

          A. "accepted guideline" means the most current clinical pain management guideline developed by the American geriatrics society or the American pain society or a clinical pain management guideline based on evidence and expert opinion that has been accepted by the New Mexico medical board;

          B. "acute pain" means the normal, predicted physiological response to a noxious chemical or thermal or mechanical stimulus, typically associated with invasive procedures, trauma or disease and generally time-limited;

          C. "board" means the licensing board of a health care provider;

          D. "chronic pain" means pain that persists after reasonable medical efforts have been made to relieve the pain or its cause and that continues, either continuously or episodically, for longer than three consecutive months. "Chronic pain" does not include pain associated with a terminal condition or with a progressive disease that, in the normal course of progression, may reasonably be expected to result in a terminal condition;

          E. "clinical expert" means a person who by reason of specialized education or substantial relevant experience in pain management has knowledge regarding current standards, practices and guidelines;

          F. "disciplinary action" means any formal action taken by a board against a health care provider, upon a finding of probable cause that the health care provider has engaged in conduct that violates the board's practice act;

          G. "health care provider" means a person who is licensed or otherwise authorized by law to provide health care in the ordinary course of business or practice of the person's profession and who has prescriptive authority within the limits of the person's license;

          H. "pain" means acute and chronic pain; [and]

          I. "prescription opioid" means a drug in the class of drugs that includes the natural derivatives of opium, which are morphine and codeine, and related synthetic and semi-synthetic compounds that act upon opioid receptors, which drug has been prescribed by a health care provider authorized pursuant to state and federal law to prescribe opioids; and

          [I.] J. "therapeutic purpose" means the use of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical medical treatment that conforms substantially to accepted guidelines for pain management."

     SECTION 3. A new section of the Pain Relief Act is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] REQUIREMENTS FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS WHO PRESCRIBE, DISTRIBUTE OR DISPENSE PRESCRIPTION OPIOIDS.--

          A. A health care provider who prescribes, distributes or dispenses a prescription opioid for the first time to a patient shall counsel the patient on the risks of overdose and inform the patient of the availability of naloxone. With respect to a patient to whom a prescription opioid has previously been prescribed, distributed or dispensed by the health care provider, the health care provider shall counsel the patient on the risks of overdose and inform the patient of the availability of naloxone on the first occasion that the health care provider prescribes, distributes or dispenses a prescription opioid each calendar year. 

          B. A health care provider who prescribes a prescription opioid for a patient shall offer the patient a prescription for naloxone, within the scope of the health care provider's authorized practice, unless otherwise indicated in the professional judgment of the health care provider."

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