Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S1635 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2137 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1635
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	John C. Velis
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act authorizing pharmacists to provide opioid use disorder treatment.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :John C. VelisHampden and Hampshire 1 of 2
16	16	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2137 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
17	17	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1635
18	18	By Mr. Velis, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1635) of John C. Velis for legislation
19	19	to authorize pharmacists to provide opioid use disorder treatment. Public Health.
20	20	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
21	21	SEE SENATE, NO. 1435 OF 2023-2024.]
22	22	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
23	23	_______________
24	24	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
25	25	(2025-2026)
26	26	_______________
27	27	An Act authorizing pharmacists to provide opioid use disorder treatment.
28	28	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
29	29	of the same, as follows:
30	30	1 Section 24B ½ of chapter 112 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official
31	31	2Edition, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (c) and inserting thereof the following:-
32	32	3 (c) Collaborative drug therapy management shall only be allowed in the following
33	33	4settings: (1) hospitals licensed pursuant to section 51 of chapter 111, subject to approval by the
34	34	5medical staff executive committee at a licensed hospital or designee; (2) long-term care facilities
35	35	6licensed pursuant to section 71 of chapter 111, subject to approval by the long-term care
36	36	7facilities' medical director or designee; (3) inpatient or outpatient hospice settings licensed
37	37	8pursuant to section 57D of chapter 111, subject to approval by the hospice's medical director or
38	38	9designee; (4) ambulatory care clinics licensed pursuant to section 51 of chapter 111, with on-site
39	39	10supervision by the attending physician and a collaborating pharmacist, subject to approval by the 2 of 2
40	40	11ambulatory care clinic's medical staff executive committee or designee, or medical director or
41	41	12designee; (5) collaborating pharmacists in a retail drug business, as registered in section 38 of
42	42	13chapter 112 and limited by this section, with supervision by physicians according to the terms of
43	43	14their collaborative practice agreements and limited to the following: patients 18 years of age or
44	44	15older; an extension by 30 days of current drug therapy prescribed by the supervising physician;
45	45	16and administration of vaccines or initiation of medications pursuant to a diagnosis,
46	46	17discontinuation, and/or modification of dosages of medications prescribed by the supervising
47	47	18physicians for substance use disorders, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes,
48	48	19hypertension, hyperlipidemia, congestive heart failure, HIV or AIDS, osteoporosis and co-
49	49	20morbidities identified by the supervising physician for the individual patient along with the
50	50	21primary diagnosis. The collaborative practice agreement shall specifically reference each disease
51	51	22state being co-managed. A patient shall be referred by supervising physicians to that physicians’
52	52	23collaborating pharmacists and shall be given notice of the collaboration and shall consent to the
53	53	24collaboration. Pharmacists in the retail setting, who have a collaborative practice agreement with
54	54	25supervising physicians which specifically allows initial prescriptions for referred patients of the
55	55	26supervising physician, may issue prescriptions for schedule II-VI controlled substances, as
56	56	27defined in clause 6 of section 3 of chapter 94C. Collaborative Practice Agreements with
57	57	28pharmacists in a retail setting that include controlled substances shall only be used to treat
58	58	29substance use disorders as defined by section 35 of chapter 123 or any disorder described in the
59	59	30most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Such
60	60	31prescriptions shall be for a patient diagnosis specified in the supervising physician's individual
61	61	32referral of that patient. A copy of the prescription shall be sent to the supervising physician
62	62	33within 24 hours.