BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 507
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 507 (Hayashi)
As Amended April 27, 2011
Majority vote
HEALTH 13-4 BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS
6-0
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|Ayes:|Monning, Ammiano, Atkins, |Ayes:|Hayashi, Allen, Butler, |
| |Bonilla, Eng, Gordon, | |Hill, Ma, Smyth |
| |Hayashi, | | |
| |Roger Hernández, Bonnie | | |
| |Lowenthal, Mitchell, Pan, | | |
| |V. Manuel Pérez, Williams | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Logue, Garrick, Mansoor, | | |
| |Silva | | |
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 13-3
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|Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Bradford, Charles |
| |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| |Mitchell, Norby, Solorio |
| | |
|-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Harkey, Nielsen, Wagner |
| | |
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SUMMARY :
1)Repeals provisions in existing law which permit the Department
of Justice (DOJ) to employ a physician to interview and
examine any patient in connection with the prescription
possession or use of a controlled substance, requires the
patient to submit to the interview and examination, and
permits the physician to testify in prescribed administrative
proceedings.
AB 507
Page 2
2)Removes the requirement that the Board of Pharmacy take action
against any holder of a license that is guilty of the "clearly
excessive" furnishing of controlled substances, as specified,
and instead provide that unprofessional conduct includes any
furnishing of controlled substances in violation of specified
existing law.
3)Makes technical and conforming changes to existing law related
to severe chronic intractable pain and to the California
Intractable Pain Treatment Act (CIPT Act).
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, negligible state fiscal impact.
COMMENTS : According to the author, pain is the most common
reason Americans access the health care system and is a leading
contributor to health care costs. The costs of pain and
suffering, both emotional and financial, are enormous.
Unrelieved pain is the second leading cause of medically-related
work absenteeism and causes over $61 billion dollars in lost
productivity annually. According to the National Center for
Health Statistics, in 2006, 76.2 million people suffered from
pain in the United States. In a recent California HealthCare
Foundation survey, pain topped the list of concerns people face
when they think about dying. The author states that California
has led the nation in making many important legislative and
regulatory changes related to pain management. These previous
reforms made great strides to improve the legal and regulatory
landscape for pain management by promulgating the idea of
balance between the legitimate need to protect public safety and
public health through efforts to reduce drug abuse and
diversion, and the imperative to address the public health
problem of unrelieved pain. However, the author states that
some ambiguities and inconsistencies remain in the law
surrounding pain practice, and that these outdated practice
standards, as identified by the Pain and Policy Studies Group
(PPSG), can unduly restrict healthcare practice and interfere
with patient access to effective pain treatment. The author
states that this bill will remove remaining legal barriers to
optimal pain management for patients with cancer, HIV/AIDs and
other diseases or conditions causing pain by eliminating
ambiguities and inconsistencies in the CIPT Act that negatively
affect appropriate clinical interpretation.
AB 507
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According to the sponsor of this bill, the American Cancer
Society (ACS), the changes to statute that this bill proposes
were identified by PPSG, which reviewed every state's adherence
to this principle of balance using a peer reviewed evaluation.
PPSG collaborates with organizations such as the Alliance of
State Pain Initiatives, the American Academy of Pain Medicine,
the ACS Cancer Action Network, the American Pain Foundation, the
American Pain Society, the American Society of Addiction
Medicine, the Federation of State Medical Boards, the National
Association of Attorneys General, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration. According to PPSG, its U.S. program is
primarily involved in the collection and evaluation of state
policies that govern pain management, especially prescribing
controlled substances to treat chronic moderate to severe pain.
PPSG identified potential barriers to adequate patient pain
care, as well as language that promotes safe and effective
treatment.
ACS writes that California's policy landscape is fairly good in
looking at this balance, but there are few remaining components
in the codes that are inconsistent with current best practices
in pain management and may impede the appropriate treatment of
pain and that this bill removes or amends the offending
language. ACS states that removing these last remaining
components of policy that could erect barriers to needed pain
treatment will allow the field to focus on other reasons that
pain is under-treated.
Analysis Prepared by : Melanie Moreno / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097
FN: 0000606