Final report of the Opioid Abuse Senate Study Committee

GEORGIA STATE SENATE
SENATE RESEARCH OFFICE
204 Coverdell Legislative Office Building 404.656.0015 18 Capitol Square SW Atlanta GA 30334

ANGIE FIESE DIRECTOR ALEX AZARIAN DEPUTY DIRECTOR ELIZABETH HOLCOMB PROJECTS MANAGER

FINAL REPORT OF THE OPIOID ABUSE SENATE STUDY COMMITTEE
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Senator Renee Unterman Chair District 45
Senator Butch Miller District 49
Commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald MD Department of Public Health
Rick Allen RPh Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency
Allen Butts MD The Longstreet Clinic
Cecil Cordle PharmD CVS Pharmacy Tifton
Rafael Pascual MD Northeast Georgia Medical Center

Prepared by the Senate Research Office 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Committee Focus Creation and Duties ..............................................................................................2 Background .......................................................................................................................................3 Meeting Testimony ............................................................................................................................7
Meeting 1 September 30 2016..............................................................................................7 Meeting 2 October 17 2016 ..................................................................................................7 Meeting 3 November 9 2016 ................................................................................................8 Meeting 4 December 13 2016 ...............................................................................................8 Committee Findings ...........................................................................................................................9 Committee Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 12 Concurring Report by Dr. Rafael Pascual ........................................................................................... 13 Signature Page.................................................................................................................................14 Selected Meeting Materials................................................................................................... Appendix SARA White Paper "Prescription Opioids and Heroin Epidemic in Georgia"................. Exhibit A Emergency Rule 480-34-0.31-.11 (Naloxone)............................................................... Exhibit B Update on PDMP ....................................................................................................... Exhibit C
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COMMITTEE FOCUS CREATION AND DUTIES
The Senate Study Committee on Opioid Abuse (Committee) was created with the adoption of Senate Resolution 1165 during the 2016 Legislative Session. The Committee was charged with undertaking a study of opioid abuse and issues surrounding the rise in overdose deaths involving opioids.
The following individuals were appointed by the President of the Senate to serve as members of this Committee
Senator Renee Unterman of the 45th Chair Senator Butch Miller of the 49th Commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald Department of Public Health Rick Allen RPh Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency Dr. Allen Butts The Longstreet Clinic Cecil Cordle PharmD CVS Pharmacy Tifton Dr. Rafael Pascual Northeast Georgia Medical Center
The following legislative staff members were assigned to this Committee Jared Evans and Elton Davis of the Senate Budget & Evaluation Office Ines Owens of the Senate Press Office Elizabeth Holcomb and Koko Lewis of the Senate Research Office Lynn Whitten of the Office of Legislative Counsel and Avi el Bland Senate Health and Human Services Committee Secretary and Legislative Assistant to Senator Unterman.
BACKGROUND
The Opioid Epidemic According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) two distinct but interconnected trends are driving America s opioid overdose epidemic (1) a 15-year increase in deaths from prescription opioid overdoses and (2) a recent surge in illicit opioid overdoses driven mainly by heroin and illegally-made fentanyl.
The CDC s National Center for Health Statistics found that the number of overdose deaths involving opioids rose from 28 647 in 2014 to 33 091 in 2015. This figure and the data below on the number of deaths involving opioids in 2015 were released in December of 2016.
Heroin overdose deaths rose from 10 574 in 2014 to 12 990 in 2015 an increase of 23 percent. Overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone rose from 5 544 in 2014 to
9 580 in 2015 an increase of 73 percent. This category of opioids is dominated by fentanylrelated overdoses and recent research indicates the fentanyl involved in these deaths is illicitly manufactured not from medications containing fentanyl. Taken together 19 885 Americans lost their lives in 2015 to deaths involving primarily illicit opioids heroin synthetic opioids other than methadone (e.g. fentanyl) or a mixture of the two. Overdose deaths involving prescription opioids excluding the category predominated by illicit fentanyl rose only slightly from 16 941 in 2014 to 17 536 in 2015 a 4 percent increase.
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The figure above shows the rise of overdose deaths involving all opioids as well as four categories of opioids considered by the CDC. These categories of opioids are outlined below and were referred to throughout the Committee s study.
Natural opioid analgesics including morphine and codeine and semi-synthetic opioid analgesics including drugs such as oxycodone hydrocodone hydromorphone and oxymorphone
Methadone a synthetic opioid Synthetic opioid analgesics other than methadone including drugs such as tramadol and
fentanyl and Heroin an illicit (illegally-made) opioid synthesized from morphine that can be a white or brown
powder or a black sticky substance.
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Access to Naloxone by Third Party Prescription and First Responders Almost every state has enacted legislation in response to increased opioid use. The laws passed by a majority of states fall into two categories outlined below. Laws Providing Access to Opioid Antagonist Naloxone As of August 2016 47 states have passed laws providing immunity to medical professionals who prescribe or dispense naloxone or persons who administer naloxone. Previously laws required a doctor-patient relationship to be established prior to issuing a direct prescription to an at-risk drug user and third party prescriptions were prohibited.1
Source NCSL 2016
Good Samaritan Laws The figure below shows that 37 states and the District of Columbia have enacted some form of a Good Samaritan or 9-1-1 drug immunity law to encourage people to seek medical attention for a drug overdose. In general these laws provide immunity from supervision violations and low level drug possession and use offenses when a person seeks medical attention for himself/herself or another for a drug overdose. Immunity is extended to persons who have a reasonable belief that someone is experiencing an overdose emergency and makes a report of such belief in good faith.
1 A third-party prescription is an order written for medication dispensed to one person with the intention that it will be administered to another person.
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Source NCSL 2016
As you can see from the figures above many states have laws addressing both categories and Georgia s law has been in effect since 2014 with the passage of House Bill 965. This bill was introduced as the Georgia 9-1-1 Medical Amnesty Law by Representative Sharon Cooper and reached final passage with the language of House Bill 966 through a committee substitute passed by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. Specifically the law authorizes practitioners to prescribe opioid antagonists to certain individuals and entities pursuant to a protocol allowing pharmacists to dispense and opioid antagonist pursuant to a physician s prescription. Such prescriptions may be made by a physician to a third party individual or entity for another person at risk of experiencing an opioid related overdose to be used by the third party under physician s protocol. Third party individuals and entities include a pain management clinic first responder harm reduction organization family member friend or other person in the position to assist the person at risk of overdosing. The law also authorizes first responders EMS personnel and paramedics to carry and administer opioid antagonists pursuant to a licensed physician s order.
Naloxone Access and Over-the-Counter Sale Barriers The interest in laws that allow individuals to bypass a doctor s office and obtain naloxone from pharmacies has increased in 2016 after Walgreens and CVS began selling naloxone. Although a variety of sources and individuals describe this type of access as OTC this is technically incorrect since naloxone is a prescription-only drug that has not been designated by the FDA for OTC sale. Still other states have employed a variety of approaches to allow individuals to access naloxone at a pharmacy without first seeing a prescriber and getting a traditional prescription. The primary objective of this study committee was to gain a better understanding of these approaches and identify a model approach for Georgia.
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MEETING TESTIMONY
This section provides a brief summary of topics covered at each meeting including the names and affiliations of individuals who were asked to provide testimony to the Committee. Although testimony has been condensed to ensure the report could be timely submitted copies of all presentations and materials submitted to the Committee are kept on file in the Senate Research Office.
Meeting 1 September 30 2016 The first meeting was held at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville Georgia and consisted of an overview of the issues related to opioid abuse. The individuals who provided testimony and the titles of each presentation are listed below.
"Opioid Drug Abuse Today Trends and Implications in Georgia" o Kay Hall MBA RN Northeast Georgia Medical Center
"Opiates The New Epidemic" o Joni B. Powell CACH Support Services Supervisory Laurelwood o Trisha Ziem MACL LPC Assessment Coordinator Laurelwood
"Opiates Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome" o Brittany Smith RN MSNEd Unit Manager Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Northeast Georgia Medical Center
"Advantages and Disadvantages of Narcan Sold Over the Counter" o Melissa Frank Director of Pharmacy Northeast Georgia Medical Center
Meeting 2 October 17 2016 Meeting 2 was held on October 27th at the Capitol and continued the discussions from the previous meeting on neonatal abstinence syndrome prescription drug policies for pain medications and efforts to prevent substance abuse. The Committee expanded the scope of this study to include the ramifications of addiction and examine how neonatal abstinence syndrome impacts social services and Georgia s foster care system. The following individuals provided testimony
Tom Fitzgerald MD Emergency Medicine Tanner Medical Center Jane E. Ellis MD PhD Associate Professor of Maternal-Fetal Medicine Medical Director Emory
Regional Perinatal Center Grady Memorial Hospital Vice Chair Georgia Maternal Mortality Review Committee Paul Browne MD Section Chief Associate Professor of Maternal Fetal Medicine Augusta University Karen Dudley MD Neonatalogist Northside Hospital Trish Witcher RN MSN Labor and Delivery Unit Nurse Northside Hospital Lee Biggar and Andy Kogerma Georgia Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) Jim Langford Georgia Prevention Project
In addition to providing oral testimony Mr. Langford distributed a summary of a white paper by the Substance Abuse Research Alliance (SARA). A final copy of SARA s "Prescription Opioids and Heroin Epidemic in Georgia" was distributed to the Committee shortly after the December meeting and is provided in Exhibit A of the Appendix.
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Meeting 3 November 9 2016 The Committee held a third hearing on November 9th at the Capitol. Testimony was provided to the Committee by the following individuals John Horn U.S. Attorney Heroin Working Group Lt. William Ricker Zone 1 Crime Suppression Unit Commander Atlanta Police Department Sarah B. Flack Director of the Community Prosecution Unit for the Atlanta Judicial Circuit Kathleen O Connor Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs Shatterproof Dr. Michael Fishman Director of Young Adult Program at Talbott Recovery Atlanta Laurisa Barthen Outreach and Communications Coordinator Georgia Council on Substance Abuse Jim Langford Georgia Prevention Project
Meeting 4 December 13 2016 The Committee returned to the Capitol for a fourth meeting on December 13 2016. Testimony was provided by the following individuals Cassandra Price--Director of the Office of Addictive Diseases at DBHDD Virginia Pryor--Deputy Director of Child Welfare at DFCS within DHS Brook Etherington--Vice President of the Opioid Treatment Providers of Georgia CEO of Alliance
Recovery Center After hearing testimony Mr. Allen provided an update on Georgia s PDMP to his fellow Committee members.
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COMMITTEE FINDINGS
Access to Naloxone The Committee was created to increase access to naloxone in Georgia by identifying a legislative mechanism to allow pharmacists to independently dispense naloxone to an individual without a physician s prescription. At Meeting 4 Senators Renee Unterman and Butch Miller shared background information on this topic with the Committee which was previously provided to them by the Senate Research Office. The Georgia Retail Association submitted written materials to the Committee but did not provide oral testimony.
Other states have employed a variety of approaches to bypass the need for a physician to issue a prescription including collaborate practice agreements (CPAs) pharmacist-as-prescriber models and standing order legislation.
1. Legislation allowing collaborative practice agreements (CPAs) where a practitioner delegates medication management authority to a pharmacist where the pharmacist can prescribe the drug and offer front-line medical advice to the purchaser
2. Legislation for a Pharmacist-as-Prescriber model allowing pharmacists to furnish medication to a patient without the involvement of a physician
3. Standing Order Legislation which allows for the dispensing of naloxone under standing orders where prescribers are given the authority to prescribe the medication via such an order and are granted limited immunity with regard to such prescriptions so long as they act in good faith.
At Meeting 4 Commissioner Fitzgerald and Mr. Allen agreed that a standing order would be feasible in Georgia. The next day the Board of Pharmacy adopted Emergency Rule 480-34-0.31-.11 (Naloxone) to allow pharmacists to dispense naloxone to individuals pursuant to a statewide standing order issued by Commissioner Fitzgerald. According to the rule the steady and sharp increase in the number of overdoses and deaths due to prescription and illegal forms of opioid drugs poses an imminent threat to the public health safety and welfare and naloxone is critical in assisting persons at risk of overdose.
Synthetic Opioids The Committee heard testimony from law enforcement officials on the dangers of handling fentanyl and carfentanil in the field at Meeting 3. On September 22 2016 the DEA issued a warning to the public and law enforcement regarding the dangers of carfentanil a drug linked to a significant number of overdose deaths in the nation.2 Carfentanil is a synthetic opioid analgesic that is 10 000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl which itself is 50 times more potent than heroin.
Law enforcement officers told the Committee that access to more than one dose of naloxone is extremely important in overdose cases involving fentanyl or carfentanil.

2 https //www.dea.gov/divisions/hq/2016/hq092216.shtml

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Georgia s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Georgia s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) was established in 2011 to assist in the reduction of the abuse of controlled substances to improve enhance and encourage a better quality of healthcare by promoting the proper use of medications to treat pain and terminal illness and to reduce duplicative prescribing and overprescribing of controlled substances practices. The Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency maintains the PDMP through a program known as PMPAware. All Georgia licensed Dispensers (pharmacies and dispensing prescribers) are required to submit information for dispensed Schedule II III IV and V controlled substance prescriptions to PMPAware on a weekly basis.
Under Georgia s PDMP law only physicians owning or practicing in pain management clinics are required to query the PDMP before prescribing any Schedule II through IV Controlled Substance. Additionally only physicians owning or practicing in pain management clinics are required to register with the PDMP. As Ms. O Connor of Shatterproof explained at Meeting 3 Georgia law allows access to information for review or investigation but it does not require the PDMP to proactively analyze and distribute data in cases where high-risk behavior is most probable.
Mr. Allen provided a detailed report and update on Georgia s PDMP which is available in Appendix C. The Committee agreed that physicians would have a greater incentive to participate in the PDMP if the system was updated more often. The cost to upgrade the system to update every 24 hours was estimated to be between $20 000 to $30 000 per year.
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome The Committee heard testimony at Meetings 1 and 2 on the prevalence of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) in the U.S. where a baby is born with NAS every 25 seconds. Testimony at Northeast Georgia Medical Center provided the Committee with detailed information on the various symptoms associated with NAS. The medical costs associated with each child born with NAS are estimated at roughly $93 400 and the long-term effects of NAS may include learning disabilities and delayed motor skills. Dr. Karen Dudley a neonatologist at Northside Hospital emphasized the importance of a systemwide approach and home intervention to the Committee. Additionally Northside has a "Quality Improvement Initiative" that uses a protocol-based approach that has led to a decreased average stay for infants born with NAS.
The Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) provided testimony at Meeting 2 on how increased opioid abuse has affected the delivery of social services in recent years. According to DFCS cases involving opioid abuse or other drug addiction can be very challenging for caseworkers who already face high volume caseloads.
The Committee also heard testimony on the best practices for treating addiction in pregnant women including detox programs that use methadone as a treatment approach. Dr. Paul Browne an associate professor of maternal fetal medicine at GRU provided testimony on Augusta University s addiction program for pregnant mothers. Dr. Ellis of Augusta University told the Committee that the best strategy in achieving neonatal and fetal outcomes is to make sure the mother s needs are met which may include appointment reminders and transportation to treatment sites. While there is no detox program at Northside Dr.Dudley believes that having the conversation about NAS with parents beforehand is very helpful.
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Heroin Working Groups Additional testimony was provided by prosecutors and law enforcement officers who have first-hand knowledge and experience with the opioid crisis in Georgia. As Mr. Horn described at Meeting 3 Georgia is part of the opioid crisis but has not reached a catastrophic point like some states (e.g. West Virginia and Ohio). The Fulton County Heroin Working Group discussed at Meeting 3 was modeled after programs in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and Cleveland Ohio. The Committee was encouraged to hear testimony on the effectiveness of the heroin working groups in Georgia and the opportunity to expand these efforts in other areas of the state.
Prescription Drug Policies in Emergency Departments As Ms. Hall explained at Meeting 1 the Emergency Department (ED) is the largest source for opioid analgesics and is estimated by the National Center for Health Statistics to generate roughly 39 percent of all opioids prescribed in the U.S. Unlike other vital signs pain is subjective and more difficult to assess since it cannot be proven through a medical test. ED physicians are faced with the burden of carefully assessing each patient presenting with pain while also achieving high patient satisfaction scores regardless of whether a prescription for pain medication is issued. Concerns over whether the push for patient satisfaction contributes to provider prescribing habits are significant leading some EDs to implement a prescription drug policy. Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) s ED Controlled Substance Policy was approved in 2012 and consists of a uniform policy that educates patients on adherence to the policy and redirects patients to community resources for the management of chronic pain which should occur by one non-emergency provider. Dr. Tom Fitzgerald provided testimony at Meeting 2 on the development of a similar policy by Tanner Medical s ED.
Medication Assisted Treatment Sites for Opioid Addiction Brooke Etherington Vice President of the Opioid Treatment Providers of Georgia provided testimony at Meeting 4 on how Medication Assisted Treatment Sites (MATs) in Georgia vary by facility size and services. This variance explains why those who work in the MAT industry tend to shy away from calling these facilities "methadone clinics." Committee members expressed concerns regarding certain facilities that reportedly dispense methadone like a vending machine and made several references to "pill mills." According to Mr. Etherington all MATs in Georgia should be regulated and subject to inspections.
Approaches to Address Substance Abuse in Georgia Jim Langford of the Georgia Prevention Project distributed a summary of a white paper by the Substance Abuse Research Alliance (SARA) which was later finalized in December 2016. In addition to the SARA white paper Mr. Langford provided testimony on outreach prevention and education programs.
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COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the foregoing findings the Committee makes the following recommendations
Legislation should be introduced in 2017 to codify the effect of Emergency Rule 480-34-0.31-.11 (Naloxone) that was adopted by the Georgia Board of Pharmacy on December 14 2016. This rule increases access to naloxone to individuals by allowing pharmacists to independently dispense naloxone in cases where a patient-specific prescription has not been issued by a physician. The Committee agrees that O.C.G.A. 24-6-116.2 should be amended to authorize the State Health Officer (Commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald) to issue a statewide "standing order " which would function as a prescription for opioid antagonists/naloxone for any persons or entities she chooses to name in the order.
The Committee agrees that first responders need additional funding sources for naloxone especially with the increased use of synthetic opioids that often require more than one dose to achieve an effective reversal. Funding for naloxone should be increased to ensure first responders are equipped with adequate supplies.
The Committee supports efforts to improve the utility of Georgia s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program by mandating reporting by all prescribing physicians increasing funding to expand the ability of GDNA to review and make data available and developing an application that will allow the system to update its information every 24 hours. An exception to physician reporting requirements should be considered for prescriptions of five pills or less which would decrease workload related to minor procedures or some acute pain treatments. Additionally continuing medical education should be developed for physicians and other prescribers on narcotics proper prescribing and the use of alternative medications. Narcotic prescriptions should be tracked by DEA and anyone writing over a decided number should be looked at to verify legitimacy of practice.
The Committee agrees that medication assisted treatment sites (MATs) should be regulated in Georgia and intends to share its findings with the Commission on Narcotic Treatment Programs to formulate a legislative solution to this issue.
The progress of the heroin working groups should be closely monitored in hopes that a statewide model can be developed in the future.
The Committee recommends a continuance of state funds for DBHDD to support addiction treatment and recovery services. Additional funding resources should be explored to support early intervention efforts and coordination with DFCS for children born to drug addicted mothers.
There should be a consistent approach to chronic pain management across our health systems in Georgia. The Committee supports bringing experts together in a future study to develop a uniform system that can implemented on a state level.
Finally Georgia needs to be proactive in its effort to address the opioid epidemic and explore funding opportunities to ramp up outreach prevention and education programs on school campuses.
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CONCCURING REPORT BY DR. RAFAEL PASCUAL
Regarding the PDMP and mandating prescriber participation Participation should not be required if prescriber writes for a prescription duration of under 7 days. Additionally the PDMP website should be updated for ease of use and allow physician assistants techs or nurses be allowed to access site for the physician.
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Respectfully Submitted
FINAL REPORT OF THE OPIOID ABUSE SENATE STUDY COMMITTEE
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Honorable Renee Unterman Chair Senator District 45
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