SCAD Coalition Blog

The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2014

The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) of 2014, a bipartisan effort to address the prescription drug epidemic, would provide a series of incentives and resources designed to encourage states and local communities to advance a continuum of proven strategies to combat addiction. Among other things, the bill would expand prevention and education efforts to prevent the abuse of opioids and heroin and promote treatment and recovery. It would also strengthen prescription drug monitoring programs to help states monitor and track prescription drug diversion.

This bill is the companion to the Senate’s Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, S. 2839, introduced in September 2014 and is supported by a total of 93 organizations. Click here for more information.

Why the Intractable Pain Treatment Act Should be Repealed

Did you know there is a law that gives you the right to tell your doctor you will not try his or her recommended therapy for your pain and you are only willing to be prescribed narcotic pain relievers?

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.