I will soon introduce legislation to ensure access to non-opioid alternatives for pain treatment.

While opioids provide effective pain management for patients, it is also well established that opioids, even if medically prescribed, carry a risk of patients developing Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). For instance, a recent study conducted by the Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research evaluating the effect of opioid exposure in Medicaid revealed that 1 in 18 Medicaid beneficiaries treated with opioids for acute pain were diagnosed with OUD within 3 years of their initial prescription. While the General Assembly enacted the Safe Emergency Prescribing Act (Act 122 of 2016) and the Department of Health have implemented best practices to reduce overprescribing of opioids and enhance safe medication disposal, the path from pain management to addiction is unfortunately still too common.

However, earlier this year, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new type of pain medication for adults with moderate to severe pain, which importantly lacks the addictive properties found in opioids. This approval marked the first class of non-opioid pain medication sanctioned by the FDA in more than 20 years and provides another important public health tool in our effort to combat the ongoing opioid crisis and help prevent additional individuals from the risk of OUD.

In turn, my legislation will ensure access to this new class of medication and establish parity for pain treatment relative to opioids. To clarify, this legislation does not change or reduce the ability for medical professionals to prescribe opioids for pain treatment but simply provides patients with equal access to non-opioid medications as a potential alternative.

Representative Burgos is introducing companion legislation in the House.

Please consider cosponsoring this important legislation that provides another tool for Pennsylvania to address the opioid crisis in a comprehensive manner.