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Committee refers bill expanding pharmacists’ role in opioid treatment to higher education after objections
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Summary
Senate Bill 2625 would let pharmacists prescribe, administer and dispense medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder; some members questioned the lack of required coordination with primary-care providers and raised scope-of-practice concerns.
Chair presented Senate Bill 2625 to amend Public Health and Education Law to expand pharmacists’ authority to prescribe, administer and dispense medications for opioid use disorder. The Chair said the measure would broaden access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and noted further consideration would occur in the Higher Education committee because the bill touches professional scope and training.
A committee member said he would vote no, arguing the bill lacks required coordination with primary-care physicians and that pharmacists are not trained to manage complex, chronic conditions in isolation. “There’s a reason that we require that medication be prescribed by doctors,” the committee member said, and urged expanding eligible prescribers more broadly rather than limiting changes to pharmacists alone.
The Chair acknowledged those concerns and noted that scope-of-practice questions typically receive additional review in Higher Education. After brief discussion, the committee moved the bill and referred it to the Higher Education committee for further vetting of training, coordination and regulatory issues.
What’s next: Referral to the Higher Education committee; expect further hearings on training, care coordination and professional scope before any floor action.
