Requires a personal use pharmaceutical disposal system be provided at the time of dispensing an opioid prescription at no cost to the ultimate user of such prescribed opioid.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5086
SPONSOR: Gunther TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring a
personal use pharmaceutical disposal system be provided at the time of
dispensing an opioid prescription
PURPOSE:
This legislation would require pharmacies to provide a personal use
pharmaceutical disposal system at the time of dispensing an opioid
prescription.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends the public health law by adding a new section, 3309-b,
which does the following:
1. Requires pharmacies to include a personal use pharmaceutical disposal
system with all opioid prescriptions
2. Requires county health departments to provide the personal use phar-
maceutical disposal systems at no cost to the pharmacy. The systems must
be provided to the county by either the manufacturer of each opioid at
no cost to the county health department or acquired by the county health
department through the use of funds made available from the opioid
settlement fund.
3. Allows a county health department to establish administrative proce-
dures to implement the section A. Defines "personal use pharmaceutical
disposal system"- and "ultimate user"
Section 2 establishes an effective date of 180 days after the bill shall
have become law.
JUSTIFICATION:
More than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses between May 2020
and April 2021-the most ever recorded in a single year-according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of drug overdose
deaths was up almost 30% from the 78,000 deaths in the prior year, and
was nearly three time that of traffic accident deaths during the same
period. According to the Center for Disease Control. (CDC), there have
been three distinct waves of opioid overdose deaths.(1) The first wave
began in the 1990s with the prescribing of opioids by doctors, and then
an increase of these prescriptions since at least 1999. The second wave
began in 2010 with "rapid increases in overdose deaths involving
heroin." The third wave began in 2013, "with significant increases in
overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids," such as fentanyl.
In 2021, the Office of the New York State Attorney General announced a
settlement in the March 2019 lawsuit against various manufacturers and
distributors, resulting in up to $1.6 billion in funds going to counties
across the state.(2) County Executives of America, which was a party to
numerous lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors,
requested that language similar to this legislation be included in the
final language of the settlement. While that language was ultimately not
included, this legislation seeks to accomplish the same goal of requir-
ing that personal use pharmaceutical disposal systems accompany all
opioid prescriptions dispensed at pharmacies in New York State.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022: A9103 referred to Health/S7605 referred to Health
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the 180th day after it shall have become
law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5086
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 2, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GUNTHER -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring a
personal use pharmaceutical disposal system be provided at the time of
dispensing an opioid prescription
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section
2 3309-c to read as follows:
3 § 3309-c. Opioid personal use pharmaceutical disposal systems. 1. No
4 person in the state shall dispense an opioid prescription to the ulti-
5 mate user of such prescribed opioid unless such person additionally
6 provides to such ultimate user a personal use pharmaceutical disposal
7 system at no cost to such ultimate user.
8 2. Each county health department shall provide personal use pharmaceu-
9 tical disposal systems to each pharmacy in such county at no cost to
10 such pharmacy to be distributed pursuant to the provisions of subdivi-
11 sion one of this section. Personal use pharmaceutical disposal systems
12 shall either be provided to each county health department by the
13 manufacturer of each opioid distributed in such county at no cost to
14 such county health department, or acquired by the county health depart-
15 ment through the use of funds made available from the opioid settlement
16 fund established pursuant to section ninety-nine-nn of the state finance
17 law.
18 3. A county health department may establish administrative procedures
19 to implement the provisions of this section.
20 4. As used in this section:
21 (a) "Personal use pharmaceutical disposal system" means a portable
22 product designed for personal use by the ultimate user for the purpose
23 of allowing the ultimate user of a prescribed opioid to deactivate the
24 prescribed opioid to a non-retrievable condition or state.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06902-02-3
A. 5086 2
1 (b) "Ultimate user" means a person who has lawfully obtained, and who
2 possesses, a prescribed opioid for his or her own use or for the use of
3 a member of his or her household.
4 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
5 it shall have become a law.
