“The Massachusetts
Medical Society and its physician members appreciate the opportunity to
have worked closely with Governor Baker and lawmakers on our shared
objective to curb the opioid epidemic, and we support the intent of the
House’s version of the opioid bill.
“We are encouraged
that the House has again acknowledged the importance of assuring
inmates in Massachusetts access to medication assisted treatment for
their substance use disorder. Due to the urgency of the epidemic for
this population, however, we encourage the legislature to find a way to
require this treatment at all correctional facilities rather than a
limited pilot program.
“One statistic in
particular needs to be changed, and access to MAT for the incarcerated
sick can be a catalyst in that process. Massachusetts Department of
Public Health research (completed last August) revealed that the
opioid-related overdose death rate is 120 times higher for persons who
were recently incarcerated. The recent decision to offer MAT to
individuals incarcerated in neighboring Rhode Island has been met with
well-documented and life-saving success. Emerging data continue to
indicate that allowing full access to all appropriate and proven MAT in
jails and prisons is both feasible and effective in reducing harm. As
physicians, we cannot stand by while those suffering from substance use
disorders have forced upon them unsupervised withdrawal when medically
appropriate alternatives are accessible. As a society we will bear the
results of this cruel policy in both future care expense and, more
importantly, lives lost to addiction.
“We are pleased
the concept and implementation of involuntary commitment was
reconsidered, as we believe at current the state’s health care
infrastructure is not sufficiently prepared to provide medically
appropriate care to those who are involuntary committed. The likely
result of involuntarily committing individuals suffering from substance
use disorder is substandard care in overcrowded emergency departments,
which would place further strain on already limited and stretched
hospital resources. Moreover, there exists no solid research or
evidence that the practice of involuntary commitment would save lives,
even if avenues to medically appropriate care were free of barriers.
“While the
conversion to electronic prescribing will yield important benefits in
the areas of safety and convenience for many patients and physicians,
the Massachusetts Medical Society strongly urges continued attention to
the details of the transition to electronic prescribing to ensure
minimum negative impact to patients and physicians, especially as we
deal with complex federal regulations that address this practice. With
room for practical flexibility in these situations, we can move more
quickly toward assuring that all patients and prescribers benefit from
the good intent of electronic prescribing, and we will continue to work
with all stakeholders involved to ensure patient safety and efficiency
remain paramount during conversion to e-prescribing.”
