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Showing 4 posts in Kentucky “Pill Mill Bill”.

Complying with KASPER

Posted In Health Care Law, KASPER, Kentucky House Bill 217, Kentucky “Pill Mill Bill”

The Kentucky General Assembly passed House Bill 1, also known as the “pill mill bill” in 2012. Following its enactment, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and various licensure boards issued regulations implementing its requirements. It was soon realized that the law would need some refinement to address concerns raised by the provider community and stakeholders. In 2013, House Bill 217 amended portions of House Bill 1 to address some unintended consequences of the original legislation. One of those amendments was giving an exemption to hospitals, long-term care facilities and approved researchers from the law’s requirement to report controlled substances administered directly to patients through the state’s description drug monitoring system, KASPER. However, for those licensees not exempt from the reporting, it remains a stringent requirement that a KASPER report is filed within one day of dispensing a controlled substance. (See more on HB 217 here.) More >

House Bill 1 Revisited: Kentucky General Assembly Amends the Pill Mill Bill

In a 2012 Special Session, the Kentucky General Assembly passed House Bill 1, also known as the “pill mill bill,” to reign in the overprescribing of prescription drugs and the diversion of prescription drugs.  Following the enactment of House Bill 1 and it being signed into law by Governor Beshear, the Cabinet and various licensure boards issued regulations implementing House Bill 1’s requirements.  After emergency regulations were promulgated, Governor Beshear’s office held a series of stakeholder meetings to address the concerns of health care providers and other stakeholders to address some of the compliance and logistical issues that were being raised by stakeholders.  Both Governor Beshear’s office, as well as various licensure boards, recognized that House Bill 1 and the implementing regulations would require amendment and refinement to address concerns raised by the provider community and other stakeholders.  During the 2013 Regular Session of the General Assembly, some of these concerns were addressed in House Bill 217 which amended portions of House Bill 1 to address some of the compliance and other issues raised by health care providers and other stakeholders. More >

THE PERILS OF PRESCRIBING CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES

Posted In Health Care Law, House Bill 1, KASPER, Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure, Kentucky “Pill Mill Bill”

As the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure’s (“KBML”) implementing regulations for House Bill 1 are now effective on an emergency basis for the next six months, physicians, nurse practitioners, and other licensed prescribers have specific statutory and regulatory requirements establishing when and how they may prescribe controlled substances.  These rules must be followed or physicians and others may face serious consequences that include criminal misdemeanor offenses, loss of prescribing privileges, and disciplinary actions against professional licenses. All practitioners must pay careful attention to these rules because even minor violations may create problems. Because the KBML’s regulations are more comprehensive than the requirements of House Bill 1, a great deal of confusion exists concerning what physicians and practitioners are required to do and when. Recognizing that compliance with its emergency regulations may mean major changes in the way physicians practice medicine, the KBML has announced that it expects full compliance by October 1, which creates a welcome grace period.   While the ambiguities and details will be worked out over the course of the next six months, physicians should take heed and incorporate these things into their practices. More >

The New Business of Prescribing Controlled Substances

Posted In Health Care Fraud, Health Care Law, Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure, Kentucky “Pill Mill Bill”

Out of the heated debate between the Attorney General representing law enforcement and the Kentucky Medical Association representing physicians, the Legislature enacted Kentucky’s “Pill Mill Bill,” which is  sweeping legislation designed to combat prescription drug abuse through increased regulation of pain clinics and greater scrutiny of prescribing practices by various agencies of state government.  The Pill Mill Bill becomes effective on July 20, 2012 and imposes requirements not just for doctors practicing pain medicine, but for all practitioners who prescribe controlled substances.  In addition to placing significant limits on who can own a pain clinic and how a pain clinic is operated, the legislation requires Kentucky’s licensing boards, including the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure and the Kentucky Board of Nursing, to enact new regulations that impose standards for physicians, nurses and other practitioners when a Schedule II or Schedule III controlled substance is prescribed. Because the Pill Mill Bill imposes sweeping changes for pain clinics and prescribing practices, all health care providers and their patients will  face new challenges as procedures change.  Regardless of whether the legislation stops the shifting pattern of drug abuse from illicit to prescription drugs, physicians are at the center of the Pill Mill Bill and are now required to reduce the risk of diversion and abuse of prescription drugs when treating a patient’s pain. Whether the collateral effect of the Pill Mill Bill is the serious under treatment of pain is yet to be seen. More >

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