SB 84 – Preventing Abuse of Opioid Medication – Passes Senate and House

The House and Senate passed Sen. Laura Sturgeon‘s Senate Bill 84 last week in unanimous votes.

This bill would require hospitals to follow the same reporting rules as long-term care facilities and immediately disclose to the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services when they discover instances in which the delivery of prescribed medication might have been knowingly or intentionally interrupted, obstructed or altered – an act known as medication diversion. Often cases of medication diversion involve narcotics being withheld from patients by personnel who either abuse the drugs or sell them for a profit. 

The bill also would elevate medication diversion in the law and place would place it on par with abuse, neglect, mistreatment, and financial exploitation. 

Senate Bill 84 Sponsors	Yes Votes	No Votes
Sturgeon, Sokola, Townsend	Passed Senate 21-0. Brown, Ennis Gay Hansen Lockman Mantzavinos, Paradee, Pinkney, Poore, S.McBride, Sokola, Sturgeon, Townsend, Walsh, Bonini, Hocker, Lawson, Lopez, Pettyjohn, Richardson, Wilson	None
Minor-Brown, Lambert, Baumbach, M.Smith	Passed House 40-0-1. Baumbach, Bennett, Bentz, Bolden, Brady, Bush, Carson, Chukwuocha, Cooke, Dorsey Walker, Griffith, Heffernan, K.Johnson, K.Williams, Kowalko, Lambert, Longhurst, Lynn, Matthews, Minor-Brown, Mitchell, Morrison, Osienski, S.Moore, Schwartzkopf, Wilson-Anton, Briggs King, Collins, D.Short, Gray, Hensley, M.Smith, Morris, Postles, Ramone, Shupe, Smyk, Spiegelman, Vanderwende, Yearick	Dukes (Absent)
Current Status –	Sent to Governor Carney for his signature or veto.

“Families from every corner of our state have felt the pain and devastation caused by substance abuse,” said Sturgeon. “Each of us in the General Assembly has a responsibility to do everything we can to address this issue head on. That is why I have been working with Attorney General Kathy Jennings and the Delaware Department of Justice to advance legislation that can save lives.” 

“Medication diversion poses a real threat to vulnerable patients and residents, and yet often goes under-reported, sometimes due to confusing regulations that establish when potential cases should be brought to the attention of authorities,” said Edward Black, acting director of DOJ’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. “Reporting likely cases of medication diversion quickly is essential to our ability to prosecute abuse when necessary and recommend treatment when appropriate. This proposal will streamline those rules and potentially keep more drugs off the street.”