Shared responsibility: Massachusetts legislators, physicians, and an act relative to substance use treatment, education, and prevention

Abstract

Recent passage of the Massachusetts law, An Act Relative to Substance Use, Treatment, Education, and Prevention, represents an admirable public health approach to substance use disorder (SUD), a stigmatized chronic disease that affects some of society's most vulnerable people. With its seven-day supply limit on first-time opioid prescriptions, this legislation takes an unusual approach to state government involvement in health care. By intervening in individual physicians' practices, state legislators have entered a space traditionally reserved for clinical teams. The seven-day supply limit and the process through which it was developed highlight competing priorities and dialogue between physicians and legislators, limits of physician self-regulation, and standards of evidence in policy making and health care. Addressing these issues requires both physicians and legislators to recognize and fulfill new responsibilities in order to better assist the populations they serve.