State lawmakers passed two bills in an attempt to monitor and reduce the number of opioid-related overdoses in Hawaii.
One bill makes it easier to get medications that counteract the effects of overdoses and provide immunity for people who administer those medications. A second bill is intended to increase the access that health practitioners and pharmacists have to a patient’s prescription history, including use of drugs like OxyContin.
Senate Bill 2392 provides immunity to health care providers and pharmacists who prescribe, dispense and distribute opioid antagonists, such as Naloxone, that can reverse the effects of opioid-related overdoses. Naloxone is a non-narcotic that blocks opioids, like heroin and oxycodone, yet has no potential for abuse, and side effects are rare. When administered during an overdose, it blocks the effects of opioids and restores breathing within three minutes.
“This bill will have substantial impacts in addressing the prescription drug epidemic that is ravaging communities across the country and destroying lives in our own state,” said House Health Committee Chairwoman Della Au Belatti (D, Moiliili-Makiki-Tantalus), who issued a news release Tuesday as the bill sits on Gov. David Ige’s desk for approval.
If the governor signs the bill into law, starting on
Jan. 1 all emergency personnel and first responders such as police officers, firefighters and lifeguards will be allowed to administer opioid antagonists. It would also authorize “harm reduction organizations” such as the Community Health Outreach Work Project to store and distribute opioid antagonists.
A second measure, Senate Bill 2915, updates the Uniform Controlled Substances Act to make it consistent with amendments in federal controlled substances law and mandates all practitioners and pharmacies — except veterinarians — register to use the state’s electronic prescription accountability system to be able to retrieve the prescription history of their patients. This bill is also awaiting the governor’s signature to become law.
“This will empower practitioners and pharmacists to be able to retrieve the prescription history of their patients to avoid over-prescriptions and assist in designing the most appropriate care and treatment plans for their patients, especially in instances where controlled substance abuse is suspected,” Belatti said.
Nationally, President Barack Obama’s 2017 budget proposal provides for
$1 billion in new funding to address prescription opioid and heroin abuse. Meanwhile, Congress voted last week for a package of measures to address opioid addiction. Between 2010 and 2014 there were 270 reported overdoses in Hawaii, according to the Health Department.
