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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2552 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2184
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Carmine Lawrence Gentile
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act authorizing pharmacists to provide opioid use disorder treatment.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Carmine Lawrence Gentile13th Middlesex1/19/2023James K. Hawkins2nd Bristol1/27/2023Christopher Hendricks11th Bristol1/27/2023Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/30/2023James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/18/2023 1 of 2
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2552 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2184
By Representative Gentile of Sudbury, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2184) of
Carmine Lawrence Gentile and others relative to authorizing pharmacists to provide opioid use
disorder treatment. Public Health.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act authorizing pharmacists to provide opioid use disorder treatment.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Section 24B ½ of chapter 112 of the General Laws, as appearing in the
22020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (c) and inserting thereof the
3following:-
4 (c) Collaborative drug therapy management shall only be allowed in the following
5settings: (1) hospitals licensed pursuant to section 51 of chapter 111, subject to approval by the
6medical staff executive committee at a licensed hospital or designee; (2) long-term care facilities
7licensed pursuant to section 71 of chapter 111, subject to approval by the long-term care
8facilities' medical director or designee; (3) inpatient or outpatient hospice settings licensed
9pursuant to section 57D of chapter 111, subject to approval by the hospice's medical director or
10designee; (4) ambulatory care clinics licensed pursuant to section 51 of chapter 111, with on-site
11supervision by the attending physician and a collaborating pharmacist, subject to approval by the
12ambulatory care clinic's medical staff executive committee or designee, or medical director or 2 of 2
13designee; (5) collaborating pharmacists in a retail drug business, as registered in section 38 of
14chapter 112 and limited by this section, with supervision by physicians according to the terms of
15their collaborative practice agreements and limited to the following: patients 18 years of age or
16older; an extension by 30 days of current drug therapy prescribed by the supervising physician;
17and administration of vaccines or initiation of medications pursuant to a diagnosis,
18discontinuation, and/or modification of dosages of medications prescribed by the supervising
19physicians for substance use disorders, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes,
20hypertension, hyperlipidemia, congestive heart failure, HIV or AIDS, osteoporosis and co-
21morbidities identified by the supervising physician for the individual patient along with the
22primary diagnosis. The collaborative practice agreement shall specifically reference each disease
23state being co-managed. A patient shall be referred by supervising physicians to that physicians’
24collaborating pharmacists and shall be given notice of the collaboration and shall consent to the
25collaboration. Pharmacists in the retail setting, who have a collaborative practice agreement with
26supervising physicians which specifically allows initial prescriptions for referred patients of the
27supervising physician, may issue prescriptions for schedule II-VI controlled substances, as
28defined in clause 6 of section 3 of chapter 94C. Collaborative Practice Agreements with
29pharmacists in a retail setting that include controlled substances shall only be used to treat
30substance use disorders as defined by section 35 of chapter 123 or any disorder described in the
31most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Such
32prescriptions shall be for a patient diagnosis specified in the supervising physician's individual
33referral of that patient. A copy of the prescription shall be sent to the supervising physician
34within 24 hours.