Conroy, colleagues unveil major opioid prescription law

State Rep. Theresa Conroy speaks at a press conference on new opioid prescription regulations. In the foreground is a photo of Nick Kruczek of Guilford who died of a heroin overdose in 2013. His mother (in yellow) attended the event. / Submitted photo

HARTFORD -  State Rep. Theresa Conroy (D-Seymour, Derby, Beacon Falls) and the legislature’s Public Health Committee co-chairs state Sen. Terry Gerratana (D-New Britain) and state Rep. Matt Ritter (D-Hartford) today called for the passage of SB 352, An Act Concerning Prescriptions for and the Dispensing of Opioid Antagonists.

The bill would limit first time adult opioid prescriptions for non-chronic pain to a seven-day supply, and limit all prescriptions for minors to a seven-day supply in which case the prescribing practitioner must discuss the risks associated with opioids with the minor's parent or guardian.

“Connecticut has recognized that the opioid epidemic is a public health crisis,” Conroy said. “Prescription painkillers are often the first step on a path to devastating addiction.”

“Connecticut, like many other states throughout the country, is facing epidemic levels of opioid drug abuse and addiction. No community is safe from this threat,” said Gerratana, Senate Chair of the Public Health Committee. "We are passing this bill today because no family should have to suffer this kind of pain. Deaths from drug overdoses, many of them caused by misuse of prescription opioids, have become the leading cause of injury death in the United States. We are in the midst of a public health crisis, and swift action is needed to help reverse this alarming trend.”

Last week, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention advised doctors to refrain from giving opioid prescriptions to patients suffering from non-chronic pain, stating that the risks for such patients include addiction and death. 

The CDC also reported that from 2000 to 2014, the numbers of overdose deaths involving opioids, which include prescription opioids as well as heroin, increased by 200 percent.  

The organization has called combating opioid use and overdoses a “national priority.” 

'Public health crisis' 

If passed, SB 352 and limited all adult first-time opiate prescriptions to a seven-day supply would represent a groundbreaking development in the fight against prescription drug abuse. 

The current cap on first time prescriptions in Connecticut is a 30-day supply. If passed, SB 352 would make Connecticut only the second state in the United States to limit prescriptions to one week for non-chronic pain.

“Opioid addiction is a public health crisis in our state and across the country,” Ritter said. “We know that for many people, that addiction begins with taking legally prescribed pain killers. This legislation ensures that people who receive pain killers for a routine medical event aren’t being prescribed double or triple the amount they need. We have an opportunity through this bill to save lives by preventing many new cases of opioid addiction.” 

Last year, the CDC reported that people who use prescription drugs are 40 times more likely to try heroin. Every year there is a significant increase in heroin deaths.  From 2014 to 2015, heroin deaths increased by 27 percent in Connecticut and according to the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, 723 people died in 2015 from heroin, cocaine or other drugs such as morphine.

This is a press release from Conroy's office.