STAND. COM. REP. 2804

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.B. No. 2670

S.D. 2

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2670, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PAIN MANAGEMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require the Board of Medical Examiners (Board) to establish, as much as is practicable, educational standards for health care providers with respect to patients' pain management.

Hospice Hawaii, the Hawaii Medical Association, and two individuals testified in support of this measure.

The problem of unrelieved pain in the United States has been described as a public health epidemic. A 1999 study, entitled "Chronic Pain in America", found that only one in four persons received adequate treatment for pain. A recent study by the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that almost one-fourth of nursing home patients with cancer received nothing stronger than aspirin for their pain. Yet, while pain is a serious medical problem, physicians are not being adequately prepared to treat it. In a 2001 survey by Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Weekly, eighty per cent of physicians in medical school and residency programs rated their training on pain as poor or fair.

This measure addresses the problem of inadequate pain management training by requiring the Board to establish educational standards in pain management for health care providers, including standards for the treatment of chemically dependent individuals. Additionally, this measure prohibits disciplinary action against or the criminal prosecution of health care providers who prescribe, dispense, or administer pain medication according to the Board's guidelines, and provides immunity from civil and criminal liability for pharmacists who dispense medication based on a reasonable belief that the medication was issued by a licensed health professional pursuant to treatment or research.

Your Committee has concerns that the measure, as received, imposes duties that are outside the scope of the Board's authority and ability to implement. Therefore, your Committee has adopted the joint recommendations of the Board, the Hawaii Medical Association, and Hospice Hawaii to amend this measure by replacing its contents with language that authorizes the Board to establish guidelines on pain management for physicians, osteopathic physicians, and physician assistants, including guidelines for patients with chemical dependency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2670, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2670, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing,

____________________________

RON MENOR, Chair