Gov. Christie’s Administration recently proposed a regulation to curtail the prescription of unnecessary opioid painkillers.  Christie, who serves as the Chairman of President Trump’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, expressed concern that treatment decisions of all prescribers (including physicians, dentists and advanced practice nurses) are being improperly influenced by pharmaceutical companies.  According to Christie’s press release, four out of every five new heroin users began by misusing prescription painkillers, and, in 2016, $69 million was paid to physicians in New Jersey by drug companies and device manufacturers, two-thirds of which went to just 300 physicians.

The New Jersey regulation would take big steps toward restricting what prescribers may receive from pharmaceutical companies, including limiting the value and frequency of meals that may be provided in educational settings, and prohibiting the giving of a variety of items to prescribers, except in limited circumstances (such as for educational materials, for presenting at continuing education events and for bona fide consulting arrangements).  Annual payments for bona fide services would be limited to $10,000.

The proposed regulation will be published in the New Jersey Register on October 2, 2017. 

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