New York Looks to Mandate Opioid Overdose Drug Prescription

Doctors in New York would be required to prescribe opioid overdose reversal medication along with a patient’s first opioid prescription each year under legislation passed by state lawmakers Thursday.

The bill (S.2966A/A.336A) would require the practitioner to prescribe an opioid antagonist, which blocks opioid receptor sites in the brain, along with an opioid if risk factors such as a history of substance use disorder are present.

The legislation comes as states continue to battle a rise in opioid-related overdose deaths from heroin, fentanyl, and an increase in addiction to and use of prescription painkillers.

The state Senate passed ...