TRENTON — The state Senate approved a closely watched bill Monday that requires doctors to limit an initial prescription of pain-killing opioids to five days in an attempt to reduce the likelihood a patient will become addicted.
The bill passed by an overwhelming a 33-0 vote, although Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Bergen), a dentist, did his best to convince his colleagues they should find a better way to confront the opioid addiction epidemic.
Cardinale said he searched the medical literature but could find no justification for setting a five-day limit on a patient’s first opioid prescription. Other states with a similar law have set a seven-day limit, he said.
Another provision in the bill gives drug-addicted patients access to up to six months of treatment regardless of their ability to pay.
“Where does six months come from? What I have been told if you don’t have (a heroin addict) for nine months, you are wasting your time,” Cardinale said. “This is a very serious problem and this is not the best solution we could have come up with. I think we need more time.”
How Christie wants to force doctors to limit opioid painkiller prescriptions
Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Mercer) disagreed, saying the bill “doesn’t go far enough” because it is tailored to people “who are fortunate enough to have insurance.”
With 1,600 people dying from heroin or prescription opioid overdoses in 2015, Gov. Chris Christie declared heroin and opioid addiction a statewide emergency. During his Jan. 10 State of the State address, he challenged the legislature to pass a bill within the next 30 days that would prevent medical professionals from writing initial prescriptions longer than five days.
The limits are aimed at preventing patients from becoming dependent on the drugs, and teenagers from swiping unused medication from their parents’ medicine cabinets.
Doctors who treat people suffering from acute pain would not allot more than five days of opioid painkillers in the initial prescription, according to the bill, (S3). If after the fourth day, the patient requires more relief, the prescription could be renewed without the patient owing a second co-payment.
The legislation would not apply to hospice or cancer patients, or to people living in nursing homes.
Before writing the initial prescription, the doctor would be required to record the patient’s medical history, including substance abuse addiction, discuss the alternatives to opioids and explain the risks of getting hooked as a patient, the bill said.
The patient, or the patient’s guardian if the patient is a minor, also must sign a document acknowledging “the risks developing a physical or psychological dependence on the controlled dangerous substance, and alternative treatments that may be available,” according to the bill.
Sen. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Union), who sponsored the bill with Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex), praised his colleagues for moving so quickly and cooperatively to address such an important issue.
Kean used the moment to question why they couldn’t act just as fast on his party’s bills that aim to control property taxes.
“We shouldn’t stop here. Let’s show the same willingness to tackle property taxes,” he said.
Sweeney interrupted Kean and told him to keep his remarks focused on the bill “or I will gavel you out of the room.”
The bill now moves to the full Assembly for a vote before it goes to Christie’s desk for signature.
Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
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