BILL NUMBER:  S647

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the public health law, in relation
to creating medicinal guidelines to aid in the administration of
prescription drugs to patients with high risks of addiction

 PURPOSE :

This bill requires the Department of Health to draft guidelines for
the transition of patients from substances with a high risk of
addiction to those with a low risk of addiction.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 defines the bill as Michael David Israel Addiction
Transition Law.

Section 2 directs the Department of Health to promulgate guidelines
for transitioning patients from high risk of addiction pain management
solutions to low risk of addiction pain management solutions.

Section 3 is the enacting clause.

 JUSTIFICATION :

Michael David Israel, the son of Avi and Julie Israel, was one of many
              

young people across New York State who battled with prescription drug
abuse. On June 4, 2011 Michael David Israel tragically took his own
life.

Michael's story is not a unique one. Nationally deaths from
prescription opiates have tripled since 1999, and overdoses from
prescription opiates now hospitalize more people each year than
cocaine or heroin. Additionally, in a recent University at Buffalo
study of 75 addicts, 41 percent reported their addiction began with
medicine prescribed legally by their doctors.

The rate at which doctors are prescribing opiates is also alarming. In
New York State 37 prescriptions are written for hydrocodone, fentanyl,
and oxycodone for every 100 New Yorkers. In Western New York that rate
is almost double, with 65 prescriptions being written for every 100
residents. These statistics are concerning, and in some regards
alarming.

This bill would require the Department of Health develop a set of
guidelines to help doctors transition patients from high risk of
addiction pain management solutions to low risk of addiction pain
management solutions. In some cases, long-term use of opiate pain
killers is necessary, but in many cases alternative methods can be
used to manage the patients pain while avoiding the potential for a
damaging addiction to develop.

This bill does not require doctors to implement these strategies and
still leaves the decision for how best to care for the patient up to
their doctor, but it does provide doctors with an important resource.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2012: S.6181/A.9093 Referred to Health
2013-14: S.480 Referred to Health

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

Minimal fiscal implications.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become law.