Six DOs Meet with Ohio Legislators Regarding Prescription Drug Abuse

Six Ohio DOs were part of a delegation of physicians who went to the Statehouse, Dec. 10, to discuss 13 bills that have been recently introduced to address Ohio’s prescription drug addiction epidemic.

Legislators are impatient about the progress made since passage of HB 93 to regulate pain clinics, limit in-office opioid dispensing and encourage OARRS checks. More than a dozen physicians joined staff from various physician organizations and state licensing boards to talk with a group of lawmakers from both political parties, who serve on health-related committees in the Ohio House of Representations.

During the morning “interested party” meeting, initiated by the OOA, physician groups expressed support for many of the bills, but also raised concern about unintended consequences.  Legislators, in general, were skeptical of the physician community’s commitment to fighting prescription drug addiction by using alternatives to opioid prescribing. OOA representatives included John F. Ramey, DO; Cleanne Cass, DO; Peter A. Bell, DO; David D. Goldberg, DO, and Jon Wills, plus Kimbra Joyce, OMS IV. 

Three DOs were part of a panel testifying later in the afternoon before the House Sub Committee on Prescription Drug Addiction and Healthcare Reform.  Dr. Cass spoke on behalf of the OOA, while Mark Malinowski, DO, testified for the Ohio Society of Anesthesiologists, and Michael V. Bourn, DO, on behalf of the Ohio State Medical Association