Sandoval’s painkillers plan faces Senate deadline

Gov. Brian Sandoval’s prescription drug proposal, designed to help prevent highly addictive painkillers from being dispensed to people without a medical need, must pass out of the Senate by Tuesday to stay alive.

In Senate Bill 459, the governor proposes to require all practitioners to check the state prescription monitoring program before ordering certain controlled substances to make sure patients do not get excess medication.

SB459 also would require all prescribers to register with the state prescription monitoring program. Presently, only an estimated 50 percent of Nevada physicians are registered to use the database.

Called the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act, the bill also would grant immunity for doctors administering medications to reverse the life-threatening effects of an overdose of opiate painkillers such as morphine. Medications such as naloxone restore breathing to a victim in the throes of an opioid overdose.

The requirement that prescribers check the monitoring program before initiating a prescription for a controlled substance has drawn opposition from physicians. Adding to the bureaucratic load doctors must bear, they say, just further limits the amount of time they have with patients, especially physicians who prescribe few controlled substances.

“No Nevada physician opposes the goal to have all medications reported on every patient,” said Dr. Howard Baron, a pediatric surgeon. “This bill goes beyond that. We just think this legislation can be improved.”

Many pharmacists support making the monitoring program mandatory.

“This is an issue that everyone has to play a part in if we’re going to resolve this epidemic,” said Kam Gandhi, president of the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy. “Right now, the pharmacies are the gatekeepers of filling these prescriptions or not filling them. We’re not the only piece of the puzzle that’s going to solve this problem. Pharmacists already have modified our practice to monitor this.”

The Nevada Board of Osteopathic Medicine has proposed new rules of conduct involving the assessment, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up care for patients, but that protocol has been put on hold until after the Legislature has acted, board President Dr. Ronald Hedger said.

Contact Steven Moore at smoore@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563.