NASHVILLE – A weekslong legislative stalemate between Gov. Bill Haslam and health providers over the administration’s proposed crackdown on narcotic painkiller prescriptions largely has been resolved, top lawmakers say.
Both sides wound up ceding ground in the legislation, which places new limits on short-term prescriptions of opioids in a state where officials say there is a crisis with more than 1,600 residents dying from drug overdoses in 2016 alone.
Haslam and administration officials argue they want to curb new cases of narcotic painkiller addiction arising from prescriptions in areas ranging from surgeries to major dental work and broken bones.
But doctors, dentists and pharmacists said the governor’s originally proposed prescription limits, which mostly affect new patients dubbed the “opioid naive,” were too harsh. They also argued they interfered with the physician-patient relationship and imposed new, administrative burdens on them.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam gives his annual State of the State address to a joint convention of the Tennessee General Assembly Monday, Jan. 29, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)Another argument was that the governor’s proposal forced patients back to see their health care practitioner for a new, short-term prescription.