The Arizona House passed a bill that would make exceptions for prescription limits on opioids if patients are suffering from extreme chronic pain.
Morphine, for example, has a 90 milligram per-day limit. But doctors who have an understood medical history of the patient can make exceptions if the standard dose does not help the patient or if the pain drives them to suicidal thoughts.
Republican Rep. Regina Cobb voted in favor of the bill to help people in those situations, though she had concerns…
“The whole reason we did the opioid special session to begin with is because we had bad actors and people that were having issues with over prescribing, and now we are opening it back up again. I think that there is no guard rails on those people," Cobb said.
Others voted against the measure as they shared concerns it would escalate the opioid epidemic in more communities. The bill will head back to the Senate.
