Legislature Adjourns; New Laws Signed by Governor

The 130th Ohio General Assembly concluded its work in mid-December, combining and passing numerous Senate and House health-related bills and sending them to the Governor for his signature.  New legislation included provisions that regulate:

• Tanning Facilities, by requiring signed parental consent forms for minors;
• Mammograms, by requiring mammography facilities to include certain information in the mammography report summary sent to a patient if the patient’s mammography demonstrates the presence of dense breast tissue;
• In-office addiction treatment using buprenorphine products, by requiring all offices providing such services to have terminal distributor licenses from the State Pharmacy Board of Ohio and follow rules and standards promulgated by the State Medical Board of Ohio;
• Immunizations, by expanding access to allow pharmacists to administer immunizations to children between the ages of 7 -13 with a prescription, flu shots to those same ages without a prescription, and requiring immunizations for children enrolled in child care facilities;
• Infant Safe Sleep, by requiring the establishment of infant safe sleep procedures and policies and creating the Commission on Infant Mortality;
• OARRS, by requiring the State Board of Pharmacy to prepare semiannual reports on opioid prescriptions;
• Lyme Disease, by repealing language passed last June that previously required patient notice explaining the limitations of lyme disease testing;
• Automated external defibrillation (AED), which allows any person to perform AED and stating that training in AED and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is recommended but not required. It also extends qualified immunity from civil liability to premises owners and other persons involved with placement and use;
• Free Clinics, which requires that all free clinics be included in the state's loan repayment programs for physicians and dentists, creates a volunteer's certificate for retired nurses, and extends qualified immunity from civil liability for certain volunteer health care services provided in free clinics to individuals eligible for or receiving Medicaid;
• Opioid Abuse Education, by requiring the Governor's Cabinet Opiate Action Team to develop recommendations for instruction in prescription opioid abuse prevention and submit the recommendations to the Department of Education no later than July 1, 2015; and,
• Down Syndrome, by requiring the Department of Health to create and make available on its website a Down syndrome information sheet and that specified health care professionals or facilities provide a copy of the information sheet to a patient under certain circumstances.