WASHINGTON — Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) wrote a series of letters on Wednesday asking major figures in the battle against the nation’s opioid epidemic to consider promoting and analyzing “partial fill” policies, which allow patients to receive less than a full prescription’s worth of medication on a single pharmacy trip.
A clause in the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, passed in 2016, permits pharmacies to dispense portions of prescriptions for Schedule II drugs — a classification that includes many opioid-based painkillers with high potential for abuse — and for patients to return later if they feel the remainder of prescribed medication is needed.
“Our idea was simple: empower patients to have a conversation with their health providers and pharmacists about how many prescription drugs they felt comfortable having in their home,” Warren and Capito wrote in letters to FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb; all 50 state governors; 11 major medical member organizations; and Massachusetts Health Commissioner Monica Bharel.
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