-
Editorials
- Bradenton Herald
- Daytona Beach News-Journal
- Florida Times-Union
- Florida Today
- Ft. Myers News-Press
- Gainesville Sun
- Lakeland Ledger
- Miami Herald
- Naples Daily News
- NWF Daily News
- Ocala Star-Banner
- Orlando Sentinel
- Palm Beach Post
- Pensacola News Journal
- Sarasota Herald-Tribune
- TCPalm
- Sun-Sentinel
- Tallahassee Democrat
- Tampa Bay Times
- Columnists
- Cartoons
-
Press Releases
- Sayfie Review
- Jose Oliva
- Nikki Fried
- Bill Galvano
- Ron DeSantis
- Marco Rubio
- Ashley Moody
- Rick Scott
- Jimmy Patronis
- Congressional Delegation ≻
- Matt Gaetz
- Neal Dunn
- Kat Cammack
- Aaron Bean
- John Rutherford
- Michael Waltz
- Cory Mills
- Bill Posey
- Darren Soto
- Maxwell Frost
- Daniel Webster
- Gus Bilirakis
- Anna Paulina Luna
- Kathy Castor
- Laurel Lee
- Vern Buchanan
- Greg Steube
- Scott Franklin
- Byron Donalds
- Sheila Cherfilus McCormick
- Brian Mast
- Lois Frankel
- Jared Moskowitz
- Frederica Wilson
- Debbie Wasserman Schultz
- Mario Diaz-Balart
- Maria Elvira Salazar
- Carlos Gimenez
- Political Links
-
News Links
- Drudge Report
- NewsMax.com
- AP Florida News
- ABC News' The Note
- NBC News' First Read
- Florida Channel
- Florida TV Stations
- Florida Radio Stations
- Capitol Update
- Florida Newspapers
- Florida Trend
- South Florida Business Journal
- Tampa Bay Business Journal
- Orlando Business Journal
- Jacksonville Business Journal
- News Service of Florida
- Politico Playbook
- Washington Post The Daily 202
-
Research
- Florida Fiscal Portal
- Search Florida Laws
- Search House Bills
- Search Senate Bills
- Search County, City Laws
- Search County Clerks' Records
- Cabinet Agendas, Transcripts
- Search Executive Orders
- Search Atty. General Opinions
- Search Supreme Court Docket
- Florida Supreme Court Rulings
- Search Florida Corporations
- Search Administrative Rules
- Proposed Administrative Rules
- View Advertised Contracts
- Refdesk.com
- Government Services Guide
- Electoral Vote Map
-
Reference
- Florida House
- Florida Senate
- Find Your Congressman
- Find Your State Legislator
- Find Your Local Officials
- Find Government Phone #'s
- Florida Agencies
- Florida Cities
- Florida Counties
- Florida Universities
- County Tax Collectors
- County Property Appraisers
- County Clerks of Court
- County Elections Supervisors
- MyFlorida.com
- OPPAGA
- Advertise with us
Times: Sen Bob Graham knew a thing or two about finding common ground
Sun-Sentinel: Bob Graham did his best work for the people of Florida | Editorial
Herald: This Miami landmark may finally be saved. Making the case for the Marine Stadium | Opinion
Times: For Israel and Ukraine alike, US support is proving unreliable and inadequate
Times: Here's how USF is rising as a major research institution
Times: Editorial Cartoons for Thursday from Times Wire Services
Sun-Sentinel: The cruelty of exposing outdoor workers to extreme heat | Editorial
Times: On the huge federal debt, the right questions, the wrong answers | Letters
Sun-Sentinel: Another shock to the Broward school system as superintendent steps down | Editorial
New opioid law causes confusion for doctors
Christine Sexton
August 5, 2019
CORAL GABLES --- Florida lawmakers passed far-reaching health care legislation this year, from trying to import drugs from other countries to regulating plastic-surgery centers.
But it’s another seemingly simple bill meant to prevent opioid abuse that is causing widespread confusion among physicians trying to figure out how to follow the law.
Staff members of the Florida Board of Medicine and physician organizations have been fielding questions from doctors about the broadly written bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in June.
But only the Florida Department of Health can provide details as to how the law will be interpreted.
As for now, the department isn’t talking.
Since July 1, physicians are supposed to have conversations with patients about opioid alternatives before providing anesthesia or prescribing, ordering, dispensing, or administering opioid drugs listed as what are known as Schedule II controlled substances.
Moreover, physicians are supposed to distribute a state-approved pamphlet on alternatives to opioids and document compliance with the law in patients’ medical records.
Jeff Scott, general counsel of the Florida Medical Association, sent a letter July 10 to Department of Health Secretary Scott Rivkees noting that the physicians’ organization has been barraged with questions that it cannot answer.
“Out of an abundance of caution the FMA is requesting the department’s interpretation,” Scott wrote in the letter.
One pressing question for the FMA is whether the mandate applies when a non-opioid based anesthesia such as Versed is used. The drug is used in colonoscopies.
“The purpose of HB 451 is to inform patients of the alternatives to opioids, with the hope that such information may eliminate the need for an opioid or reduce the amount of opioids used,” Scott wrote in his letter to Rivkees.
“Requiring a health care provider to provide this information when an opioid is not being prescribed, ordered or administered makes no sense,” he added.
Meanwhile, at a meeting last week in Coral Gables, Board of Medicine members agreed to alter disciplinary rules to ensure that physicians who run afoul of the new law pay fines for initial violations rather than face greater disciplinary actions.
The request was made by the FMA, according to Board of Medicine legal counsel Ed Tellechea.
The FMA, though, isn’t alone in its concerns about the new law and its implications.
Florida Board of Medicine member Sarvam TerKonda, a plastic surgeon at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, said he knows that the new law has sparked questions at hospitals.
Also appearing at the meeting, Tallahassee attorney Allen Grossman told board members that there were errors in the initial opioid-alternative pamphlet that was approved by the Florida Department of Health, rendering the pamphlet ineffective.
Grossman, a former legal counsel for the Board of Medicine, asked the board to consider requesting that the Department of Health attend its next meeting in October.
Leaders of the Florida Society of Anesthesiologists also appeared at the meeting to share concerns with the law.
“We obviously want to do what’s best for our patients, but we also want to give our members and physician in the state some guidance,” said Florida Society of Anesthesiologists President Christian Diez.
Tellechea told Diez and the society’s vice president, Leopoldo Rodriguez, who also attended the board meeting, that a “strict application” of the law requires physicians to give every patient a Department of Health-approved pamphlet describing alternatives to opioids before putting the patients under.
Tellechea then quipped: “What are the alternatives? A shot of whiskey and a leather belt to bite down on?”
Board of Medicine member Hector Vila, though, said physicians shouldn’t overthink the new law.
“It’s the standard of care for all physicians, that they should think about of opioid alternatives. So that’s part of it already,” said Vila, an anesthesiologist from Tampa. “I don’t see this changing. Do what you’ve been doing. Practice good medicine and make sure somebody gives them the pamphlet.”