3/9/00 3581s

17may00.....4156h

2000 SESSION

00-2681

01/09

SENATE BILL 424

AN ACT relative to controlled substances used for pain management.

COMMITTEE: Public Institutions, Health and Human Services

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill clarifies the professional use of controlled substances for pain management.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

3/9/00 3581s

17may00.....4156h

00-2681

01/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand

AN ACT relative to controlled substances used for pain management.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

268:1 Statement of Purpose. The state of New Hampshire recognizes that principles of quality medical practice dictate that the people of the state of New Hampshire have access to appropriate and effective pain relief. The appropriate application of up-to-date knowledge and treatment modalities can serve to improve the quality of life for those patients who suffer from pain as well as to reduce the morbidity, and costs associated with untreated or inappropriately treated pain. The state of New Hampshire encourages physicians to view effective pain management as a part of quality medical practice for all patients with pain, acute or chronic. It is especially important for patients who experience pain as a result of terminal illness.

268:2 New Paragraph; Professional Use of Controlled Substances. Amend RSA 318-B:10 by inserting after paragraph VIII the following new paragraph:

IX. If, in the judgment of a physician licensed under RSA 329, appropriate pain management warrants a high dosage of controlled drugs and the benefit of the relief expected outweighs the risk of the high dosage, the licensed physician may administer or cause to be administered such a dosage, even if its use may increase the risk of death, so long as it is not furnished for the purpose of causing, or the purpose of assisting in causing, death for any reason and so long as it falls within rules of the board of medicine.

268:3 New Paragraph; Rulemaking Added. Amend RSA 329:9 by inserting after paragraph XV the following new paragraph:

XV-a. Procedures for appropriate pain management pursuant to RSA 318-B:10, IX.

268:4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

(Approved: June 12, 2000)

(Effective Date: August 11, 2000)