HLS 17RS-773 ORIGINAL
2017 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 75
BY REPRESENTATIVE WHITE
HEALTH/MEDICAL TREATMENT: Requests the Louisiana Department of Health take
all necessary steps to bring attention to the need to eliminate pain as the fifth vital
sign and a determinate of quality patient care
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to take all necessary steps to bring
3 attention to the need to eliminate the use of pain as the fifth vital sign and as a
4 determinate of quality patient care.
5 WHEREAS, vital signs are useful in detecting or monitoring medical problems; and
6 WHEREAS, the four main vital signs routinely monitored by medical professionals
7and healthcare providers are body temperature, pulse, respiration rate, and blood pressure;
8and
9 WHEREAS, the idea of evaluating pain as a fifth vital sign has rapidly caught on
10nationally and has been adopted by the Veterans Health Administration and the Joint
11Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, now commonly known as the
12Joint Commission; and
13 WHEREAS, in 1999, in an effort to improve pain management, the Veterans Health
14Administration launched the "Pain as the 5th Vital Sign" initiative, requiring a patient-
15reported pain intensity rating from zero to ten at all clinical encounters; and
16 WHEREAS, the Joint Commission subsequently recommended that pain be assessed
17in all patients; and
18 WHEREAS, in 1997, the Federation of State Medical Boards developed model
19guidelines to encourage state medical boards and other healthcare regulatory agencies to
Page 1 of 3 HLS 17RS-773 ORIGINAL
HCR NO. 75
1adopt policies encouraging the safe and effective treatment of patients with pain including
2the use of opioid analgesics; and
3 WHEREAS, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioid
4prescriptions have nearly quadrupled since 1999; and
5 WHEREAS, deaths from prescription opioids, including drugs like oxycodone,
6hydrocodone, and methadone, have more than quadrupled since 1999; and
7 WHEREAS, from 1999 to 2015, more than one hundred eighty-three thousand
8Americans have died from overdoses related to prescription opioids; and
9 WHEREAS, overdose is not the only risk related to prescription opioids; and
10 WHEREAS, in 2014, almost two million Americans abused or were dependent on
11prescription opioids; and
12 WHEREAS, the United States Food and Drug Administration is now recommending
13mandatory training for physicians who prescribe opioids; and
14 WHEREAS, physicians who resist prescribing more narcotics may be adversely
15affected if patient satisfaction scores in patient care surveys drop as a result; and
16 WHEREAS, in June 2016, the American Medical Association House of Delegates
17adopted a Board of Trustees report recommending that the association advocate that pain as
18the fifth vital sign be removed from professional standards and usage; and
19 WHEREAS, physicians at the American Academy of Family Physicians 2016
20Congress of Delegates voted to eliminate pain scores as the fifth vital sign.
21 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
22urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to take all necessary steps to bring
23attention to the need to eliminate the use of pain as the fifth vital sign and a determinate of
24quality patient care, and to increase prescriber education and awareness on assessing,
25identifying, and treating the symptom of pain with the goal of reducing the use of opioids
26to treat patient-reported pain when alternative forms of pain management would be
27sufficient.
28 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Louisiana Department of Health is hereby
29urged to bring this important issue to the attention of the United States Congress, the Centers
30for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States Food and Drug Administration,
Page 2 of 3 HLS 17RS-773 ORIGINAL
HCR NO. 75
1America's Health Insurance Plans, accrediting organizations including but not limited to the
2National Committee on Quality Assurance, the Joint Commission, and the Utilization
3Review Accreditation Commission, and the Federation of State Medical Boards, as well as
4Louisiana medical schools, prescriber licensing boards, prescriber trade associations, and
5other interested stakeholders and policy makers.
6 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
7secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 75 Original 2017 Regular Session White
Urges and requests the La. Dept. of Health to take all necessary steps to bring attention to
the need to eliminate the use of pain as the fifth vital sign and a determinate of quality
patient care.
Page 3 of 3