BILL NUMBER: S7357
SPONSOR: LANZA
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring hospital
and emergency room physicians to notify a patient's prescriber that such
patient is being treated for a controlled substance overdose
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Requires hospital and emergency room physicians to notify a patient's
prescriber that such patient is being treated for a controlled substance
overdose.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Sections 1 through 3 of the bill amends Public Health Law Section 3371
to extend provisions relating to the confidentiality of certain health
records to the conveyance of information relating to the treatment of a
patient for a controlled substance overdose
Section 4 of the bill amends the opening paragraph of subdivision 2 of
Public Health Law Section 3343-a by adding a requirement that every
emergency room or hospital practitioner must consult the prescription
monitoring program registry when treating a patient for a controlled
substance overdose and also must notify the patients prescriber of the
controlled substance of the patients overdose
Section 5 of the bill is the effective date
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In the past several years, New York State has recognized that the ramp-
ant abuse and diversion. of opioids has necessitated the implementation
of various anti-abuse policies. It is clear that these policies need to
be approached comprehensively by government, law enforcement and health
care providers. Since 2013, New York State has required that prescribers
are required to consult the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) Regis-
try when prescribing Schedule II, Ill, and IV controlled substances. The
information provided by this registry allows prescribers/practitioners
to better evaluate their patients' treatment with controlled substances
and determine whether there may be abuse of non-medical use.
This bill is a necessary and common sense extension of the purposes and
requirements of ISTOP and the prescription monitoring registry to insure
that vital medical information is shared among health care practition-
ers. The bill mandates that an emergency room or hospital practitioner
take two steps in treating a patient with an opioid overdose: consult
the prescription monitoring registry and notify the patient's prescriber
of the patient's treatment for an overdose. Such notification provides
the prescriber with information vital to the proper medical treatment of
the patient. Without such notification of the overdose, it is very
possible that the prescriber/practitioner would not know that the
patient had suffered an overdose of the opioid.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024: S.4758 - Referred to Health
2023: S.4758 - Referred to Health
2022: S.6168 - Referred to Health
2021: S.6168 - Referred to Health
2020: S.3271 - Referred to Health
2019: S.3271 - Referred to Health
2018: S.2639 - Passed Senate/A.1043 -Referred to Health
2017: S.2639 - Passed Senate/A.1043 -Referred to Health
2016: S.7946 - Passed Senate/A.10229- Referred to Health
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that the
amendments to paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 3371 of the
public health law as amended by section two of this act shall be subject
to the expiration and reversion of such subdivision pursuant to section
12 of chapter 90 of the laws of 2014, as amended, when upon such date.

Statutes affected:
S7357: 3371 public health law, 3371(2) public health law, 3343-a public health law, 3343-a(2) public health law