Senate Bill 125 would have authorized Georgia doctors to delegate to physician assistants the authority to prescribe hydrocodone compound products.
The legislation was vetoed by Gov. Nathan Deal, who cited the ongoing opioid crisis in the state.
In a new GHN Commentary, the president and board chairman of the American Academy of Physician Assistants says the state is in “the extreme minority of states that limit PAs’ prescribing authority.”
Forty-six other states and the District of Columbia allow PAs to prescribe Schedule II medications, writes L. Gail Curtis. The Senate bill would have improved access to the medication needed to relieve pain of patients in rural Georgia, where there are fewer physicians, Curtis says.