NASHVILLE – The House on Monday approved legislation directing Tennessee officials to convene a working group to study whether advance-practice nurses and physician assistants should be allowed to prescribe buprenorphine-containing products for the treatment of opioid addiction.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. JoAnne Favors, D-Chattanooga, a retired nurse, passed on a 90-2 vote.
The Senate Government Operations Committee is scheduled to take up the bill Wednesday.
Favors’ bill originally began as a more ambitious effort to let experienced nurse practitioners or physician assistants prescribe buprenorphine under some circumstances. Only physicians can do so now.
Buprenorphine is used in medication-assisted treatment to help people reduce or quit use of heroin or legal morphine-based pain relievers like OxyContin. With Tennessee grappling with an opioid crisis, lawmakers and Gov. Bill Haslam have been putting forward a variety of proposed legislation as responses.