Jessie's Law Passes Senate

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Medscape: Medscape Access

Senate Passes Bill Mandating Sharing of Addiction History


Alicia Ault
August 03, 2017

A history of opioid addiction would be required to be displayed in medical records of individuals who have consented. It would also be shared with clinicians and pharmacists, according to a bill approved by the US Senate.

The Senate passed the so-called "Jessie's Law" (S. 581) by unanimous consent on August 3 during a marathon session to tie up loose ends before legislators broke for their previously delayed summer recess. The unanimous consent procedure eliminated the need for debate or a vote.

The bill followed a remarkably fast track after it was introduced in March by Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia. A companion proposal was introduced at the same time in the US House of Representatives by two Michigan lawmakers, Democrat Debbie Dingell and Republican Tim Walberg.
The law is named for Jessie Grubb, a recovering addict who experienced relapse and overdosed after being given a large quantity of opioids following a surgical procedure by a clinician who said he was unaware of her history.

"We must ensure physicians and other medical professionals have full knowledge of a patient's previous opioid addiction when determining appropriate medical care," said Manchin, in a statement issued after the Senate approval.

The bill calls on the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop standards that could be used by hospitals and physicians to "prominently" display a patient's history of opioid addiction in his or her medical record, but only if the patient has consented to providing the history to a clinician.
The idea is that the opioid addiction history would be considered on par with allergies and other contraindications when a clinician is considering prescribing an opioid. The proposal states that the information should be available to all providers, including physicians, nurses, and pharmacists.

"Jessie's Law" still needs to be taken up by the House.

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So people with a loss of control and continues despite harm don't consent and are never flagged or identified as having that risk. This is pointless.
 
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Not pointless, good optics for politicians.

agree, half of the laws they pass are just to look good to get reelected not for the good of the people.

The single best way to drain the swamp and ensure people in congress are really trying to get some good done, is to establish term limits for both houses of Congress, similar to what there is for the President.
 
actually, it does more harm than good as now if it passes, it would require patient's consent to flag it on the chart while now docs and nurses can flag it anyway they seem fit on the chart W/O consent.
 
Yeah, what happens if someone is asked if they want a flag, they say "Hell no", and they have Opioid Use Disorder on the problem list of their EHR, or listed as part of their care plan in the ED? Is someone going to say that's a Jessie's Law violation and sue?
 
The doctor is to blame and should have lost. He had no training and what he was doing and he was well outside any standards of care. He should also lose his license and DEA registration if not go to jail for his actions. His care was not that of a doctor but that of a drug dealer enabling an addict. The patient is also to blame for letting the spiral out of control. Pretending he knew that this wasn't wrong it's idiotic in the face of the epidemic the country has faced in the last 20 years. The wife is guilty as hell because she let this go on. This is a Witch Hunt and nothing more. They're all guilty.
 
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i feel worst for the poor attorneys that only got to pocket $800,000 for the case (not including the apparently 15 million that they may have gotten from the healthcare system. interesting isnt it that this amount is not mentioned in to what the victim and wife got????)

"“This is a doctor problem,” Cronin said. “The problem starts with the doctor, and we have to do something to end it.”"

no. this is a societal problem, with expectations from patients for ZERO pain or cures for chronic pain, doctors afraid to say no, and big pharma marketing meds as this cure...
 
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