A 3496: 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.

  
  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.