Opioid-Only Formulary Goes to House Ways and Means

Friday, June 22, 2018 | 0

A plan to limit opioid prescriptions for injured workers has passed a conference committee and now is in the hands of the Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee.

House Bill 4470, which was seen as a compromise to the governor's plan to create a formulary for all medications, would limit only opioid-based drugs. It passed the conference committee and was assigned to the Ways and Means Committee this week.

The measure incorporates elements of several bills that have been introduced in the last 18 months, all designed to combat opioid abuse. The new bill, crafted by the Joint Committee on Mental Health, expands the formulary commission that’s already set up under the state Department of Health, from 16 members to 21.

It also would include a member of a labor organization and the director or designee of the Department of Industrial Accidents, which oversees the workers’ compensation system.

The legislature is in session until July 31.