Guilford Rep. Scanlon's Opioid Bill Passes in House

From the Connecticut General Assembly:

Monday, April 25, the House of Representatives passed HB 5053, a bill co-sponsored and co-authored by State Rep. Sean Scanlon (D-Guilford) that takes a comprehensive approach to combating Connecticut's heroin and opioid epidemic.

"Connecticut, and the United States, is in the midst of a full-blown crisis when it comes to heroin and opioid abuse," said Scanlon. "I'm thankful that my colleagues recognized the need to act and we were able to work on solving this public health epidemic on a bi-partisan basis."

HB 5053 is the second bill Scanlon has co-sponsored and helped pass concerning prescription drug and heroin abuse during his first year-and-a-half in office. His first bill - Public Act 15-198 - was passed in 2015 and requires prescription drug abuse education for doctors and other prescribers, cracks down on "doctor shopping" for prescription drugs and allows pharmacists to provide life-saving anti-overdose drugs like Narcan over the counter. In addition to passing legislation, Scanlon has held two widely attended public forums on the issue in Branford and Guilford, met with those suffering from addiction and the doctors who treat them and spent a night shadowing Hartford Police Department narcotics detectives.

"Since first learning about this issue and the impact it was having among young people especially right here in my district, I decided to try and do something about it from the first day I got to the Capitol as a member of the Public Health committee," said Scanlon.

Overdose deaths related to heroin and opioids have risen dramatically in the last few years. In 2015, 522 Connecticut residents died of a heroin-related overdose - a 27 percent increase over 2014. In 2012, there were only 86 heroin-related overdoses in the state. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), four in five new heroin users began by taking powerful prescription pain pills and often turn to heroin because of it's cheap cost relative to prescription drugs.

HB 5053 has several key components: capping prescriptions to limit excess supply, limiting all first-time and non-chronic pain opioid prescriptions for adults to a seven-day supply while exempting those who are treated for chronic pain, allowing adults who are still in pain after seven days to get a refill for an amount determined by their doctor and requiring doctors prescribing an opioid to a minor to discuss the risks of addiction with the minor and their minor's parent or guardian; ensuring first responders carry the life-saving drug, requiring all 169 towns to update their local emergency medical services plan to ensure that the first emergency medical responder on the scene is equipped with naloxone and, per the Department of Public Health, Connecticut EMS providers have used this drug on 7,100 individuals since 2012; eliminating insurance discrimination for overdose reversal drugs, prohibiting commercial health carriers from requiring prior authorization for coverage of naloxone as well as expanding screening for drug and alcohol abuse by licensed counselors, strengthening the ability to refer patients, who they suspect of possible substance abuse, to a licensed alcohol and drug counselor for further diagnosis, screening and treatment.

"This landmark legislation represents a significant step forward in our fight against heroin and opioid addiction," said Scanlon. "By becoming just the second state in the nation to cap non-chronic pain prescriptions, we will dramatically reduce the excess supply of pain pills that flood our society and are the reason four in five new heroin users begin their deadly addiction. There is no silver bullet solution to this crisis, but with this legislation, I'm confident we are making substantial progress that will prevent future addictions from beginning and help Connecticut communities and families currently affected by this epidemic."

The bill will go before the Senate for a vote.