Washington § 18.22.810 - Opioid drugs — Right to refuse.

By January 1, 2020, the board must adopt or amend its rules to require podiatric physicians who prescribe opioids to inform patients of their right to refuse an opioid prescription or order for any reason. If a patient indicates a desire to not receive an opioid, the podiatric physician must document the patient's request and avoid prescribing or ordering opioids, unless the request is revoked by the patient.

Declaration—2019 c 314: "The legislature declares that opioid use disorder is a public health crisis. State agencies must increase access to evidence-based opioid use disorder treatment services, promote coordination of services within the substance use disorder treatment and recovery support system, strengthen partnerships between opioid use disorder treatment providers and their allied community partners, expand the use of the Washington state prescription drug monitoring program, and support comprehensive school and community-based substance use prevention services.

This act leverages the direction provided by the Washington state interagency opioid working plan in order to address the opioid epidemic challenging communities throughout the state.

Agencies administering state purchased health care programs, as defined in RCW 41.05.011, shall coordinate activities to implement the provisions of this act and the Washington state interagency opioid working plan, explore opportunities to address the opioid epidemic, and provide status updates as directed by the joint legislative executive committee on health care oversight to promote legislative and executive coordination." [ 2019 c 314 s 1.]