California lawmaker proposes limiting opioid prescriptions to 3 days

California Assemblyman Freddie Rodriguez (D-Pomona) has introduced legislation that would put severe limits on the number of prescription opioids patients can receive. The bill seeks to prevent patients from abusing opioid analgesics by requiring more stringent oversight from doctors and a much lower tablet count per refill. Patients would be limited to a 3-day supply, after which they would need to go to a pharmacy to refill their prescription. Doctors would need to justify ordering more than three refills. On the fourth refill, doctors would need to explain in the patient’s record why the excess prescription is needed, what other medications were considered, the patient’s injury or illness, and the milligram dose of the prescription. The bill makes exceptions for cancer patient and patients with chronic pain. It would be up to a doctor's discretion to write longer prescriptions for these patients. In this case, the doctor would still need to explain why the patient is receiving the opioid prescription in the person's record.