STAND. COM. REP. NO. 392

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 807

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committees on Health and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 807 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Establish the Narcotics Advisory Committee to recommend acceptable topics and curriculum for the continuing medical education program; and

 

     (2)  Establish requirements for a mandatory continuing medical education program for prescribing practitioners that prescribe narcotic drugs.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Public Safety, Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition, Hawaii Association of Professional Nurses, and Work Injury Medical Association of Hawaii.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Health.

 

     Your Committees find that drug poisoning is a serious public health problem in Hawaii and the nation.  Fatal drug poisoning among Hawaii residents has increased significantly over the last twenty years, making it the lead mechanism of fatal injuries.  Education for practitioners is a critical component to reducing incidents of prescription drug abuse and misuse.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Increasing the membership of the Narcotics Advisory Committee to include two advanced practice registered nurses; and

 

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 807, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 807, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

 

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair

 

____________________________

JOSH GREEN, Chair