Rep. Amore bill heard by House Health, Education and Welfare Committee

State House – Rep. Gregg Amore’s (D-Dist. 65, East Providence) legislation (2019-H 5434) that would exclude chronic intractable pain from the definition of “acute pain management” for the purposes of prescribing opioid medication was heard by the House Health, Education and Welfare Committee.

“We want to make sure that our public policy in regard to addressing the opioid crisis does not have the unintended consequence of hurting patients who are trying to manage chronic pain. These patients are not addicts, they are suffering with pain associated with cancer, palliative care, and in many cases, chronic intractable pain. We need to let physicians determine how best to manage their patients’ pain,” said Representative Amore.

Chronic intractable pain is defined as pain that is excruciating, constant, incurable, and of such severity that it dominates virtually every conscious moment. It also produces mental and physical debilitation and may produce a desire to commit suicide for the sole purpose of stopping the pain.

The bill calls for new guidelines for the treatment of chronic intractable pain be based upon the 2016 CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain. Specifically, the legislation calls for the consideration of individualized needs of patients suffering from chronic intractable pain.
The bill was held for further study by the committee.