Amd §§3331, 206 & 3381, Pub Health L; amd §§6801 & 6527, Ed L
Allows a licensed pharmacist to prescribe and order FDA-approved medication assisted therapy under a non-patient-specific regimen for the treatment of opioid use disease.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3496
SPONSOR: McDonald TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law and the education law, in relation
to enhancing patient access to medication assisted treatment for treat-
ment of opioid disease
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends section 3331 of public health law by adding a subdivi-
sion that authorizes pharmacists to administer and dispense substances
listed in schedules III, IV, and V for the treatment of opioid use
disorder.
Section 2 amends section 6801 of education law by adding a subdivision
that authorizes pharmacists to prescribe FDA-approved medication
assisted therapy under a non-patient-specific regimen for the treatment
of opioid use disorder.
Section 3 amends subdivision 1 of chapter 206 of public health law by
adding a paragraph that directs the commissioner of health to establish
a statewide protocol for pharmacist prescribing of medication assisted
treatment of opioid use disorder.
Section 4 amends paragraph (e) of subdivision 4 of section 3381 of the
public health by authorizing licensed pharmacists to offer medication
assisted treatment for opioid use disorder.
Section 5 amends section 6527 of education law by adding a subdivision
that authorizes licensed physicians to prescribe and order a non-pa-
tient-specific regimen to a licensed pharmacist, for prescribing bupre-
norphine for the care of patients with opioid use disorder.
Section 6 establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
As individuals struggle with substance use disorder, we need an all-
hands-on deck approach to make sure care is accessible throughout New
York State. This bill allows a physician and pharmacist to enter into a
collaborate agreement to increase the number of individuals authorized
to prescribe buprenorphine. The bill allows a physician to provide a
non-patient specific order to the pharmacist for buprenorphine.
The federal government has recently taken steps to increase the avail-
ability of buprenorphine. With the passage of the bipartisan Mainstream-
ing Addiction Treatment Act, Congress removed regulations requiring
potential prescribers to register with the federal government. Buprenor-
phine, one of three medications approved by the Food and Drug Adminis-
tration for the treatment for OUD, reduces the risk of overdose, illicit
opioid use, and the transmission of infectious disease that can accompa-
ny injection drug use. With the registration requirement gone, health
care providers with state and federal authority to prescribe narcotics
can now prescribe buprenorphine.
However, Buprenorphine prescribing remains low, despite the drug's over-
all effectiveness and safety as a treatment for OUD. From 2016 through
2019, 20% of Medicare patients with OUD filled prescriptions for bupre-
norphine, according to a recent study in the New England Journal of
Medicine. Racial disparities also exist in prescribing of the drug, with
white patients being 80% more likely to receive a prescription than
Black patients and 25% more likely to receive a prescription than Latino
patients. Additionally, some office-based practices are hesitant to
accept new patients however pharmacies are the most accessible health
care provider.
States such as Nevada and Rhode Island have authorized physicians to
collaborate with pharmacists to assess patients and if appropriate
prescribe buprenorphine. Specifically in Rhode Island, a pilot study
tracked the experiences of 100 patients who started taking buprenorphine
after visiting a trained pharmacist for their care. Once stabilized on
the medication, 58 patients were randomly assigned to receive either
continued care in the pharmacy or usual care in a clinic or physician's
office. After one month, the patients in the pharmacy care group showed
dramatically higher rates of retention: 25 patients (89%) continued to
receive treatment in the pharmacy compared to five (17%) in the usual
care group. A third of patients in the study identified as Black,
Indigenous, or persons of color, and almost half were without a perma-
nent residence.
With 6,000 pharmacies in New York State, pharmacists are widely accessi-
ble and represent enormous potential to connect patients suffering from
opiate use disorders to highly competent health care professionals and
ongoing care. This legislation is yet another tool to reduce barriers to
care for those who struggle with SUD utilizing the collaboration between
a physician and pharmacist.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: A.6778
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3496
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 28, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. McDONALD -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the public health law and the education law, in relation
to enhancing patient access to medication assisted treatment for
treatment of opioid disease
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 3331 of the public health law is amended by adding
2 a new subdivision 10 to read as follows:
3 10. A pharmacist, in good faith, and in the usual course of profes-
4 sional pharmacy practice, may prescribe, administer and dispense
5 substances listed in schedules III, IV, and V for the treatment of
6 opioid use disorders, as provided in titles III or V of this article.
7 § 2. Section 6801 of the education law is amended by adding a new
8 subdivision 10 to read as follows:
9 10. (a) A licensed pharmacist may prescribe FDA-approved medication
10 assisted therapy under a non-patient-specific regimen for the treatment
11 of opioid use disease in accordance with subdivision twelve of section
12 sixty-five hundred twenty-seven of this title and regulations promulgat-
13 ed by the commissioner of health established pursuant to paragraph (x)
14 of subdivision one of section two hundred six of the public health law
15 in consultation with the commissioner.
16 (b) A licensed pharmacist authorized to issue a prescription for medi-
17 cation assisted treatment of opioid use disorder shall:
18 (i) register with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and
19 complete the training required by Section 303 of the Controlled
20 Substances Act (21 USC 823);
21 (ii) provide information to the patient on the importance of having a
22 primary health care practitioner, developed by the commissioner of
23 health;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05761-03-5
A. 3496 2
1 (iii) report such administration by electronic transmission or facsim-
2 ile to the patient's attending primary health care practitioner or prac-
3 titioners, if any; and
4 (iv) refer patient to provider or practice responsible for collaborat-
5 ing in the non-patient-specific regimen.
6 § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 206 of the public health law is amended
7 by adding a new paragraph (x) to read as follows:
8 (x) establish a statewide protocol for pharmacist prescribing of medi-
9 cation assisted treatment of opioid use disorder, not later than ninety
10 days after the effective date of this paragraph. A licensed pharmacist
11 authorized to issue a prescription for medication assisted treatment of
12 opioid use disorder shall register with the federal Drug Enforcement
13 Administration and complete the training required by Section 303 of the
14 Controlled Substances Act (21 USC 823).
15 § 4. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 4 of section 3381 of the public
16 health law, as amended by chapter 433 of the laws of 2021, is amended to
17 read as follows:
18 (e) A pharmacy registered under article one hundred thirty-seven of
19 the education law may offer counseling and referral services to custom-
20 ers purchasing hypodermic syringes for the purpose of: preventing
21 injection drug abuse; the provision of drug treatment; preventing and
22 treating hepatitis C; preventing drug overdose; testing for the human
23 immunodeficiency virus; and providing pre-exposure prophylaxis and non-
24 occupational post-exposure prophylaxis. The content of such counseling
25 and referral shall be at the professional discretion of the pharmacist.
26 A licensed pharmacist authorized to issue prescriptions for medication
27 assisted treatment pursuant to subdivision ten of section thirty-three
28 hundred thirty-one of this article may offer medication assisted treat-
29 ment.
30 § 5. Section 6527 of the education law is amended by adding a new
31 subdivision 12 to read as follows:
32 12. A licensed physician may prescribe and order a non-patient-specif-
33 ic regimen to a licensed pharmacist, for prescribing buprenorphine for
34 the care of patients with opioid use disorder pursuant to subdivision
35 ten of section sixty-eight hundred one of this title.
36 § 6. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
37 it shall have become a law.
