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HR-105 (2023-2024)

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HR105:v99#DOCUMENT

Revised  July 01, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

House Resolution
No. 105

Introduced by Assembly Member Dixon
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Alanis, Alvarez, Arambula, Bains, Bauer-Kahan, Bennett, Berman, Boerner, Bonta, Bryan, Calderon, Juan Carrillo, Wendy Carrillo, Chen, Connolly, Megan Dahle, Davies, Essayli, Flora, Mike Fong, Friedman, Gabriel, Gallagher, Garcia, Gipson, Grayson, Haney, Hart, Holden, Hoover, Irwin, Jackson, Kalra, Lackey, Lee, Low, Lowenthal, Maienschein, McCarty, McKinnor, Muratsuchi, Stephanie Nguyen, Ortega, Pacheco, Papan, Jim Patterson, Joe Patterson, Pellerin, Petrie-Norris, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Sanchez, Santiago, Schiavo, Soria, Ta, Ting, Valencia, Villapudua, Wallis, Ward, Wicks, Wilson, Wood, and Zbur)

June 10, 2024

Relative to Opioid Abuse Awareness.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


HR 105, as introduced, Dixon.
WHEREAS, The opioid epidemic is a nationwide problem in the United States that involves the widespread use of painkillers and the subsequent popularity of illegal opioids; and
WHEREAS, Opioids are a class of drugs that includes illegal drugs such as heroin, synthetic opioids like fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription. Opioids can help relieve severe pain, but, unfortunately, are highly addictive and withdrawals from them are painful; and
WHEREAS, The National Center for Health Statistics at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that in 2021 more than 106,000 lives were lost from drug-involved overdoses nationwide and 7,829 in California; and
WHEREAS, The opioid crisis has devastated communities within California, which has prompted an urgent discussion about the risks of addiction associated with overreliance on prescription medication for pain management; and
WHEREAS, Illicit drug abuse often first begins with a single prescription for acute pain; and
WHEREAS, The CDC issued updated guidance in 2022 emphasizing that nonopioid therapies are at least as effective as opioids for many common types of pain, and recommending that clinicians maximize use of nonopioid pharmacologic therapies as appropriate because they do not carry the same risks as opioids; and
WHEREAS, While the number of overall opioid prescriptions in the United States had been declining and the release of the 2016 CDC guidelines furthered these declines, the guidelines might have also inadvertently contributed to patient harm due to the undertreatment of pain; and
WHEREAS, There is need to ensure patient access to safe and effective pain management treatment and, at the same time, also the need to support physicians providing treatment to this patient population; and
WHEREAS, Certain nonopioid therapies are proven to be just as effective to treat certain causes of pain as prescription opioids, without placing patients at risk for addiction or overdose; and
WHEREAS, Awareness of, and access to, nonopioid pharmacological treatments for pain are vitally important to California’s efforts to combat the opioid crisis, and use of these treatments should be considered by doctors when addressing a patient’s pain; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the Assembly respectfully requests that the Governor, the California Health and Human Services Agency, the State Department of Health Care Services, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and other relevant state entities further prioritize increasing public and provider awareness of the health risks associated with opioid abuse; and be it further
Resolved, That the Assembly respectfully requests that the State Department of Health Care Services increase public and provider awareness of nonopioid pharmacological therapies to treat pain; and be it further
Resolved, That the Assembly encourages the health care community educate themselves and their patients as to the societal, fiscal, and health benefits of nonopioid therapies for the treatment of pain; and be it further
Resolved, That the Assembly encourages state agencies, within existing resources, to pursue opportunities and collaborate to protect access to nonopioid alternatives for people or entities providing, assisting, seeking, or obtaining such nonopioid alternatives for the treatment of pain in California; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
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REVISIONS:
Heading—Line 2.
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