Bill Text - SB222 (2017)

(New Title) relative to the New Hampshire birth conditions program and relative to the administration of certain prescription medication for treatment of a communicable disease.


Revision: April 20, 2017, 1:32 p.m.

SB 222 - VERSION ADOPTED BY BOTH BODIES

 

03/16/2017   0793s

2017 SESSION

17-0827

01/06

 

SENATE BILL 222

 

AN ACT relative to the New Hampshire birth conditions program and relative to the administration of certain prescription medication for treatment of a communicable disease.

 

SPONSORS: Sen. Carson, Dist 14; Sen. Bradley, Dist 3; Sen. Avard, Dist 12; Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 21; Rep. Kotowski, Merr. 24; Rep. M. Griffin, Rock. 7; Rep. Lundgren, Rock. 5

 

COMMITTEE: Health and Human Services

 

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AMENDED ANALYSIS

 

This bill clarifies the definition of "birth condition" for the purposes of the New Hampshire birth conditions program.

 

This bill authorizes health care professionals to prescribe certain medications for treatment or prevention of a communicable disease.

 

This bill is a request of the department of health and human services.

 

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03/16/2017   0793s 17-0827

01/06

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seventeen

 

AN ACT relative to the New Hampshire birth conditions program and relative to the administration of certain prescription medication for treatment of a communicable disease.

 

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 

1  Birth Conditions Program; Definitions.  Amend RSA 141-J:2, I to read as follows:

I.  "Birth condition'' means one or more of the birth conditions [listed in the "Guidelines for Conducting Birth Defects Surveillance'' established] recommended by the National Birth Defects Prevention Network and/or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

2  New Section; Public Health; Communicable Disease; Administration of Certain Prescription Medication for Treatment or Prevention of a Communicable Disease.  Amend RSA 141-C by inserting after section 15 the following new section:

141-C:15-a  Administration of Certain Prescription Medication for Treatment or Prevention of a Communicable Disease.  

I.  Notwithstanding the provisions of RSA 326-B:2, I-a, and RSA 329:1-c, a health care professional authorized to prescribe prescription medication for the treatment or prevention of a communicable disease may prescribe, dispense, or distribute directly or by standing order, an antimicrobial medication to a patient he or she did not evaluate and with whom there is no established health care provider-patient relationship to empirically treat for, or provide prophylaxis to prevent, a communicable disease that poses a threat to public health.  Any such prescription shall be regarded as being issued for a legitimate medical purpose and in accordance with established clinical practice guidelines, when available.

II.  Communicable diseases that pose a threat to public health for the purposes of paragraph I shall be limited to the following:

(a)  Bordetella pertussis, Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhea, and Neisseria meningitis; or

(b)  Diseases that constitute an immediate threat to public health and for which the commissioner, or designee, issues clinical guidance that requests providers to consider prescribing, dispensing, or distributing antimicrobial agents under paragraph I in order to control a disease outbreak.

III.  No health care professional who, acting in good faith and with reasonable care, prescribes, dispenses, or distributes an antimicrobial medication for the treatment or prevention of a communicable disease as described in paragraph I, shall be subject to any criminal or civil liability, or any professional disciplinary action, for any action authorized by this section or any outcome resulting from an action authorized by this section.

3  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect upon its passage.