The new regulations, aimed at combatting the opioid epidemic, establish standards for practitioners who prescribe opioids for acute and chronic pain.

To help doctors, dentists and other practitioners navigate the new prescribing landscape, the Division of Consumer Affairs has created the “Prescribing for Pain” information hub on its website to answer commonly asked questions about the regulations and provide guidelines on how to follow them.

“We’ve provided this online resource to help practitioners understand what’s required of them under the new rules and assist them in complying. Because their patients’ lives depend on it,” said Attorney General Porrino. “By fully embracing these changes, practitioners are not only following the law, they’re greatly reducing the chances their patients will get hooked on prescription pain medication and start down the treacherous path to heroin addiction.”

Patients, too, can consult the website for guidelines on the new rules. In addition to providing answers to questions commonly asked by patients, the guidelines present a series of questions patients should ask their prescribers before taking opioid medications, including possible side-effects of opioids, how the drugs could affect someone with a history of substance abuse, and what non-opioid options are available to help with pain relief.

“The questions we’ve provided are designed to spark important discussions between doctors and their patients,” said Steve Lee, Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “The information shared during these discussions will help both doctors and patients make informed decisions about whether opioids are the best course of treatment.”

The regulations, which implement legislation signed into law by Governor Chris Christie in February, apply to opioids and other controlled dangerous substances (“CDS”) prescribed to treat chronic and acute pain. The five-day limit, however, applies only to opioids prescribed to treat acute pain, which is defined as pain that a practitioner reasonably expects to last only a short period of time. The regulations do not apply to opioids used in cancer or hospice care, in treating substance abuse, or in long-term care facilities.

In addition to the five-day limit, the rules require an initial pain prescription to be for the lowest effective dose of an immediate release medication. No less than four days after
issuing the initial prescription, a practitioner may issue a subsequent prescription for pain but must first consult with the patient – in person or by phone – and determine that the additional supply is necessary and appropriate to the patient’s treatment needs, and does not present an undue risk of abuse, addiction, or diversion.

The new rules include other requirements of prescribers, including a mandate that prior to prescribing opioids, practitioners must discuss with the patient the risks associated with the medication, including the risks of addiction and overdose.

Although the procedure for creating or amending regulations usually takes six months and includes a 60-day public comment period, the law allows for emergency rulemaking when there is an imminent peril to the health, safety or welfare of the public.

Attorney General Porrino and the state’s prescribing boards – the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners, the New Jersey Board of Nursing, the New Jersey State Board of Dentistry, and the New Jersey Board of Optometrists – implemented the rules on an emergency basis on March 1, to combat a staggering public health crisis brought about by prescription opioid and heroin abuse.

According to the State Medical Examiner’s Office, more than 1,300 people were lost to drug-related deaths in New Jersey in 2014. In 2015, that number spiked to nearly 1,600. Statistics to date suggest the drug-related death toll for 2016 will eclipse the 2015 figure.

The regulations imposing prescribing limits on opioids, which were formally adopted by the prescribing boards this week, are part of a holistic approach to the drug crisis being led by the Attorney General’s Office.

Other initiatives within the Division of Consumer Affairs include:

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