Hassan asks for emergency rule change on opioid prescriptions

Press reports revealed that Gov. Maggie Hassan, along with Attorney General Joseph Foster, have approached the NH Board of Medicine, asking them to use emergency powers to implement a series of significant changes to policies for prescribing opioid pain-killers.

The recommended changes included:

• Requiring doctors or nurses prescribing opioids to participate in continuing education programs.
• Requiring a thorough evaluation of patients that includes pain intensity, history of addiction, and family history, before opioid prescriptions are given.
• Limiting opioid prescription to cases where other pain management techniques have been shown to be insufficient.
• Requiring high-risk patients to sign a patient pain agreement before receiving a prescription.
• Limiting emergency room opioid prescriptions to a five day  supply and prescriptions for chronic pain to a seven-day supply.

Gov. Hassan’s office argued that the rules should be adopted immediately as opioid abuse is currently at crisis levels in the state, noting that the Board of Medicine could begin its usual rule-making process for long-term adoption or modification of the rules once the emergency measures were in place.

However, representatives of the Board of Medicine countered that the initial implementation of the changes should not be rushed, citing concerns about the changes leading to denial of needed drugs for patients with legitimate pain problems.