On the recordSeptember 14, 2011
I rise today to introduce the Nursing Home Resident Pain Relief Act of 2011. This legislation will help ensure that nursing home residents have timely access to pain medication as needed in emergency situations. By streamlining processes that can now cause delays in administering these vital drugs, the bill will also allow designated health care professionals to administer controlled substances to residents whose medical conditions warrant quick pain relief. To accomplish these ends, the legislation amends the Controlled Substances Act, CSA, in several ways. First, it allows nurses and other appropriately licensed health professionals, designated by the nursing home and with approval from the physician, to order and administer pain medication to residents upon a physician's oral prescription. The bill also establishes a clear chain of accountability for these licensed health professionals, physicians, as well as for nursing homes and long-term care pharmacies. Last year, the Special Committee on Aging, which I Chair, held a listening session where we heard about a recent Drug Enforcement Agency, DEA, enforcement initiative that has kept nursing home residents from receiving much-needed medication to manage their pain. For many years, nurses had been able to call urgently-needed prescriptions into pharmacies upon a physician's order over the phone.…
