The "Patient's Bill of Rights" is a part of the "Intractable Pain Treatment Act" (Tenn. Code Ann. § 63-6-1101) enacted in May 2001. The safety of opiate medication was cited in the legislation lobbied for by the pharmaceutical industry. Once passed, a doctor was required to refer the patient to a doctor who would prescribe the medication demanded if they were not.
Since then Tennessee has become second in the nation for the rate of narcotic pain relievers sold. The main drug abused by someone admitted to a state-funded treatment service in 2012 was prescription opioids. Tennesseans are three times more likely than the rest of the U.S. to identify these drugs as their primary substance of abuse.
There is nothing in this law that cannot be or is not covered by other policies or practices. It is time to allow doctors to take back the ability to prescribe the best treatment for patients in pain. It is time to repeal the Intractable Pain Treatment Act. For more information, go to the Prevention Alliance of Tennessee White Papers.
