GOP lawmakers across New York State believe there’s a massive loophole in the law that is supposed to crack down on doctors who overprescribe opioids.
They’re calling on Governor Kathy Hochul to close it to save lives.
New York State Senator Dean Murray (R,C - E. Patchogue), New York State Assemblyman Keith Brown (R,C - Northport), and several members of the New York State Senate Republican Conference have sent a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul, urging her to provide funding in the upcoming budget to help close a loophole in the I-STOP Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP).
Currently, there is no mandated reporting requirement when it appears that a doctor is overprescribing opiates.
"It seems that New York State Department of Health officials rely on the pharmacies to voluntarily notify them when there may be a problem with a doctor over-prescribing. Many times this voluntary reporting doesn't occur right away or in some cases it doesn't happen at all. This issue needs to be rectified," said Senator Dean Murray, 3rd Senate District.
"When a doctor is found to be in violation of the I-Stop PMP, he or she should be suspended immediately and the pharmacies notified not to take any prescriptions from these doctors pending a revocation hearing of their license by the State Education Department. I want to thank Senator Murray for being on top of this issue for many years to now and helping to protect New Yorkers from bad doctors who are over prescribing opioids and ruining people's lives. The Governor can easily fix this at the agency level," said Assemblyman Keith Brown, Ranker of the Committee on Alcoholism and Substance Use, 12th Assembly District.
In addition to requesting funding for additional positions, the lawmakers are also proposing to use money from the opioid settlement funds to pay for any software upgrades or additional hardware that may be needed for the monitoring program.