Directs the department of health, in cooperation with various state offices and agencies to review, evaluate, and make recommendations concerning the prescribing and treatment history of persons in this state who suffered fatal and nonfatal opiate overdoses.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2980--A
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 26, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sen. HARCKHAM -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Alcoholism and Substance
Abuse -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to direct the department of health, in cooperation with various
state offices and agencies, to review, evaluate, and make recommenda-
tions concerning the prescribing and treatment history of persons in
this state who suffered fatal and nonfatal opiate overdoses
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Review of the prescribing and treatment history of persons
2 in this state who suffered fatal and nonfatal opiate overdoses. 1. Defi-
3 nitions. For the purposes of this section:
4 a. "Multiple provider episodes" shall mean a single patient having
5 access to opiate prescriptions from more than one provider.
6 b. "Poly-substance access" shall mean a patient having simultaneous
7 prescriptions for an opiate and a benzodiazepine or for an opiate and
8 another drug which may enhance the effects or the risks of substance use
9 disorder or overdose.
10 c. "Provider" shall include any individual practicing medicine as
11 defined in section 6521 of the education law.
12 2. Review. The department of health, in cooperation with the depart-
13 ment of corrections and community supervision, the office of addiction
14 services and supports, and the office of mental health, shall conduct a
15 review of the prescribing and treatment history, including court-ordered
16 treatment or treatment within the criminal justice system, of persons in
17 this state who suffered fatal or nonfatal opiate overdoses beginning in
18 the calendar years 2011 to 2020 and yearly thereafter. Such review
19 shall, with regard to such persons, conduct or provide for an examina-
20 tion of:
21 a. instances of multiple provider episodes;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00365-02-1
S. 2980--A 2
1 b. instances of poly-substance access;
2 c. the overall opiate prescription history of individuals, including
3 whether such individuals had access to legal prescriptions for opiate
4 drugs at the time of their overdoses;
5 d. whether individuals had previously undergone voluntary or involun-
6 tary treatment for substance addiction or behavioral health;
7 e. whether individuals had attempted to enter but were denied access
8 to treatment for substance addiction or behavioral health;
9 f. whether individuals had received past treatment for a substance
10 overdose; and
11 g. whether any individuals had been previously detained or incarcerat-
12 ed and, if so, whether such individuals had received treatment during
13 such detention or incarceration.
14 3. Report. No later than one year after the effective date of this
15 act, the department of health, in cooperation with the department of
16 corrections and community supervision, the office of addiction services
17 and supports, and the office of mental health, shall deliver a report in
18 an aggregate and de-identified form on trends discovered through the
19 review conducted pursuant to subdivision two of this section to the
20 governor, the temporary president of the senate, and the speaker of the
21 assembly. The reports for the calendar year 2020 shall be completed and
22 delivered to the governor, the temporary president of the senate and the
23 speaker of the assembly by December 31, 2021. For future calendar years,
24 the report shall be completed and delivered to such persons on or before
25 December 31 of the following year.
26 4. Powers. (a) The commissioner of health, the commissioner of the
27 department of corrections and community supervision, the commissioner of
28 the office of addiction services and supports and the commissioner of
29 the office of mental health may be granted access to information,
30 including, but not limited to death records, medical or treatment
31 records, autopsy reports, toxicology reports, and any other information
32 that will help the departments and offices under this section to proper-
33 ly carry out its functions, powers and duties. Such information obtained
34 may not be used for law enforcement purposes.
35 (b) All other departments or agencies of the state or subdivisions
36 thereof, and local governments shall, at the request of the commissioner
37 of health, the commissioner of corrections and community supervision,
38 the commissioner of the office of addiction services and supports, or
39 the commissioner of the office of mental health, or at the request of
40 the designee of any such commissioner, provide expertise, assistance,
41 and/or data that is relevant or material to the completion of the review
42 directed by subdivision two of this section and the report directed to
43 be completed by subdivision three of this section.
44 5. Confidentiality. In publishing data under this act, the commission-
45 er of health shall take all necessary steps to protect the privacy of
46 individuals whose information is included in such data, including but
47 not limited to, complying with privacy protections promulgated under
48 the federal Health Insurance Portability and Account Act of 1996.
49 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.