Marinette, WI (WTAQ) – Gov. Scott Walker is scheduled to sign eight bills into law Thursday that aim to decrease prescription drug abuse and heroin addiction in Wisconsin.
The measures are part of what State Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, calls the HOPE Agenda (Heroin, Opiate, Prevention and Education). The Legislature passed the bills this fall and winter with bipartisan support.
Here is a description of each bill from Nygren’s office:
2015-16 Assembly Bill 364: Changes the requirement for those who dispense certain prescription drugs to submit information to the PDMP from 7 days to 24 hours. It will also require a practitioner to review a patient’s record when initially prescribing a monitored prescription drug (for example, a Schedule II drug).
2015-16 Assembly Bill 365: States that when law enforcement encounters an inappropriate use or an infraction of the law concerning scheduled drugs, they upload that information into the PDMP and have the PDMP notify the physician. There are exceptions for on-going investigations.
2015-16 Assembly Bill 366: Gives the Department of Health Services (DHS) oversight over the operation of pain management clinics across the state. The department’s oversight would not be regulatory, but would be a way of providing safeguards so “pill mills” don’t pop up in our state.
2015-16 Assembly Bill 367: Requires methadone clinics to gather data such as staffing ratios, the number of patients receiving behavioral health services with the medication, and average mileage an individual is traveling to come to a clinic. This information will then be reported to DHS on an annual basis to give public health and treatment professionals a chance to analyze outcome data.
2015-16 Assembly Bill 658: Criminalizes the use, possession, manufacture, distribution, and advertisement of any substance or device that is intended to defraud, circumvent, interfere with, or provide a substitute for a bodily fluid in conjunction with a lawfully administered drug test. Given that many employers subject their employees to lawfully administered drug tests, this bill will help ensure that people are not defrauding or interfering with the test results.
2015-16 Assembly Bill 659: State regulations regarding opioid treatment programs are much more stringent than federal regulations. In order to afford more people accessibility to the treatment they need, this bill streamlines Wisconsin’s state regulations to align with federal regulations. With these changes, more Wisconsinites will be able to have access to opioid treatment.
2015-16 Assembly Bill 660: Allows a number of medical-affiliated boards under the Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) to issue guidelines regarding best practices in prescribing controlled substances. These best practices will help reduce instances of overprescribing and, in turn, lessen prescription opioid misuse, abuse, and addiction.
2015-16 Assembly Bill 766: Creates reporting requirements for the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP). The data collected will be reviewed and evaluated by the Controlled Substances Board (CSB) to determine the effectiveness of the PDMP and to compare actual outcomes with projected outcomes.
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