Amends TCA Title 53 and Title 63.

This bill requires a healthcare prescriber, when prescribing an opioid to a patient, to offer a prescription for naloxone hydrochloride, or another drug approved by the United States food and drug administration for the complete or partial reversal of an opioid overdose event, if one or more of the following conditions are present:<br /> <br /> (1) The prescription dosage for the patient is 50 or more morphine milligram equivalents of an opioid medication per day;<br /> <br /> (2) An opioid medication is prescribed concurrently with a prescription for benzodiazepine;<br /> <br /> (3) The patient presents with an increased risk for overdose, including a history of overdose, a history of substance use disorder, or being at risk for returning to a high dose of opioid medication to which the patient is no longer tolerant; or<br /> <br /> (4) The patient is at high risk of witnessing an opioid overdose event because the individual resides or spends time with an individual who is prescribed an opioid, misuses an opioid, or has an opioid use disorder.<br /> <br /> This bill subjects a prescriber who fails to offer a prescription for naloxone hydrochloride as required by this bill to administrative sanctions as deemed appropriate by the prescriber's licensing authority.<br /> <br /> This bill will not apply to an opioid prescription that is written as part of a patient's palliative care treatment.<br /> <br /> ON APRIL 25, 2022, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 2228, AS AMENDED.<br /> <br /> AMENDMENT #1 makes the following changes to this bill:<br /> <br /> (1) Removes the reference to naloxone hydrochloride;<br /> <br /> (2) Replaces this bill's conditions under which a healthcare prescriber will be required to offer a prescription for an opioid antagonist, or another drug approved by the United States FDA for the complete or partial reversal of an opioid overdose event, to be:<br /> <br /> (A) The healthcare provider prescribes more than a three-day supply of an opioid medication; and<br /> <br /> (B) The healthcare provider prescribes an opioid medication concurrently with a prescription by the same provider for benzodiazepine, or the patient presents with an increased risk for overdose;<br /> <br /> (3) Removes the provision that authorizes administrative sanctions against a prescriber;<br /> <br /> (4) Adds an exception for opioid prescriptions written by licensed veterinarians;<br /> <br /> (5) Specifies that this amendment and present law concerning regulations and registration for controlled drugs does not create a private right of action;<br /> <br /> (6) Adds that a person who fails to comply with this amendment's requirements is not guilty of a felony under present law that generally makes it a Class D felony offense for a person to distribute or dispense a controlled substance in violation of requirements for prescription drugs. This amendment specifies that a person who fails to comply with this amendment's requirements is punishable only by a civil penalty assessed by the provider's licensing board and only in cases involving a pattern of willful failure to comply; and<br /> <br /> (7) Changes this bill's effective date from upon becoming a law to July 1, 2022.<br />