Senate Poised to Pass Opioid Abuse Prevention Package

By ALISON BAUTER (Patch Staff)

WILMINGTON, MA - The House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill Wednesday that provides educators, doctors and patients with new tools to combat rising rates of addiction and death related to prescription painkillers in Massachusetts.

Urged on by Gov. Charlie Baker, the bill has been working its way through the Legislature since last fall. It passed the House Wednesday after a joint committee pieced together proposals from the governor's office, House and Senate.

In a statement, Baker's office called the bill a "step in the right direction" and repeated a troubling statistic — that nearly four people per day die as a result of Massachusetts' opioid and heroin epidemic. The bill axes one of Baker's original provisions, which would let doctors commit patients involuntarily to drug treatment facilities on a temporary basis if they’re considered to be in imminent danger, the Boston Herald reports.

Baker tweeted out his support later that evening:

Among other items, the bill requires prescribers to check the prescription monitoring program each time they prescribe a narcotic, establishes a one-week limit for first-time opioid prescriptions and lets patients limit how many pills they receive. It also includes provisions related to education on the risks associated with the highly addictive opiate-based painkillers.

The compromise legislation passed unanimously Wednesday, and now goes to the Senate. From there the bill will likely move quickly to Baker's desk.

>> Photo by Alison Bauter, Patch staff