Existing state law, the Medical Practice Act, establishes the Medical Board of California within the Department of Consumer Affairs. The board is responsible for the licensure and regulation of physicians and surgeons, and is required by the act to adopt and administer standards for the continuing education of those physicians and surgeons. Existing law requires all physicians and surgeons to complete a mandatory continuing education course on pain management and the treatment of terminally ill and dying patients, as provided.

Existing federal law, the Comprehensive Addiction Recovery Act of 2016, requires physicians and surgeons who dispense narcotic drugs for patient treatment to obtain a separate registration from the United States Attorney General. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration, within the federal Office of the Attorney General, administers the registration and requires physicians and surgeons to renew that registration at specified intervals. A physician and surgeon qualifies for a waiver of the registration if he or she is licensed under state law and completes at least one specified training, such as 8 hours of training in the treatment and management of opiate-dependent patients.

This bill would authorize a physician and surgeon to complete a one-time continuing education course on opiate-dependent patient treatment and management, as specified, as an alternative to the mandatory continuing education course on pain management and the treatment of terminally ill and dying patients.