7. How is Georgia Addressing the Crisis?

Legislative Updates:

SB 121 (Jeffrey Dallas Gay, Jr. Act) exempts Naloxone, the emergency drug used to reverse opioid overdoses, from the dangerous drug list when it is used for drug overdose prevention and supplied by a dispenser for various types of rescue kits. This legislation also codified the executive orders put in place by the Governor in 2016.

SB 88 (Narcotic Treatment Programs Enforcement Act) requires the Department of Community Health to create minimum standards and quality of services for narcotic treatment programs seeking licensure in Georgia.

Provisions of HB 249 include moving the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program from the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency to the Department of Public Health. The bill requires pharmacists to register and upload prescription information every 24 hours opposed to the seven-day requirement when they prescribe a Schedule II, III, IV, or V controlled substance. Beginning July 1, 2018, it also requires prescribers to review information from the PDMP before issuing a prescription to a patient for the first time and at least once every 90 days thereafter, unless:

• The prescription is for no more than a three-day supply and no more than 26 pills.
• The patient is in a hospital or health care facility, including but not limited to a nursing home, an intermediate care home, a personal care home, or a hospice program, which provides patient care and prescriptions to be administered and used by a patient on the premises.
• The patient has had outpatient surgery at a hospital or ambulatory surgery center, and the prescription is for no more than a 10-day supply of such substance and no more than 40 pills.
• The patient is terminally ill or under the supervised care of a hospice program; or
• The patient is receiving treatment for cancer

Next: Part 8: Report Abuse