This text of Massachusetts § 18B (Voluntary non-opiate directive form) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
Section 18B.
(a)The department shall establish a voluntary non-opiate directive form. The form shall indicate to all practitioners that an individual shall not be administered or offered a prescription or medication order for an opiate. The form shall be posted on the department's searchable website. An individual may execute and file a voluntary non-opiate directive form with a practitioner registered under section 7 or other authority authorized by the secretary to accept the voluntary non-opiate directive form for filing. An individual may revoke the voluntary non-opiate directive form for any reason and may do so by written or oral means.
(b)The department shall promulgate regulations for the implementation of the voluntary non-opiate directive form which shall include, but not be lim
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Section 18B. (a) The department shall establish a voluntary non-opiate directive form. The form shall indicate to all practitioners that an individual shall not be administered or offered a prescription or medication order for an opiate. The form shall be posted on the department's searchable website. An individual may execute and file a voluntary non-opiate directive form with a practitioner registered under section 7 or other authority authorized by the secretary to accept the voluntary non-opiate directive form for filing. An individual may revoke the voluntary non-opiate directive form for any reason and may do so by written or oral means.(b) The department shall promulgate regulations for the implementation of the voluntary non-opiate directive form which shall include, but not be limited to:(i) procedures to record the voluntary non-opiate directive form in the individual's interoperable electronic health record and in the prescription drug monitoring program established in section 24A;(ii) a standard form for the recording and transmission of the voluntary non-opiate directive form, which shall include verification by a practitioner registered under section 7 and which shall comply with the written consent requirements of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. § 290dd–2(b), and 42 CFR Part 2; provided, however, that the voluntary non-opiate directive form shall also provide the basic procedures necessary to revoke the voluntary non-opiate directive form;(iii) requirements for an individual to appoint a duly authorized guardian or health care proxy to override a previously recorded voluntary non-opiate directive form;(iv) procedures to ensure that any recording, sharing or distribution of data relative to the voluntary non-opiate directive form complies with all state and federal confidentiality laws; and(v) appropriate exemptions for emergency medical personnel.(c) A written prescription that is presented at an outpatient pharmacy or a prescription that is electronically transmitted to an outpatient pharmacy shall be presumed to be valid for the purposes of this section and a pharmacist in an outpatient setting shall not be held in violation of this section for dispensing a controlled substance in contradiction to a voluntary non-opiate directive form, except upon evidence that the pharmacist acted knowingly against the voluntary non-opiate directive form.(d) No health care provider or employee of a health care provider acting in good faith shall be subject to criminal or civil liability or be considered to have engaged in unprofessional conduct for failing to offer or administer a prescription or medication order for an opiate under the voluntary non-opiate directive form.No person acting as an agent pursuant to a health care proxy shall be subject to criminal or civil liability for making a decision under clause (iii) of subsection (b) in good faith.(e) Any board of professional licensure may limit, condition or suspend the license of or assess fines against a licensed health care provider who recklessly or negligently fails to comply with a person's voluntary non-opiate directive form.