The Washington State Legislature is completing its third week of the 2022 Legislative session. The first of several self-imposed deadlines will be Feb. 3 when all bills need to have passed out of policy committees and advance to the Rules Committee or Fiscal committee or be considered dead for the session.
One of the WSVMA’s prime member benefits is to monitor and track all bills that may affect the veterinary profession and to advocate to ensure the protection of veterinary practice, animal and public health, and small business. Here are a few of the bills we’re following:
Boards and Commissions – WSVMA testified in favor of SB 5753 on boards and commissions. The legislation includes the Veterinary Board of Governors and is intended to enhance diversity among board membership. The WSVMA asked for an amendment to provide more detail on appointments to the board to guarantee veterinarians come from small, large, and specialty practice as well as from diverse types of clinical employment settings and practice ownership. The bill passed out of Senate Committee on Health and Long Term Care earlier in the week.
Prescription Drug Information – HB 1852 would require the Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission to translate drug label information in 15 different languages and then require the pharmacy to make that translation available to the consumer when dispensing prescription drugs. It is clear that the proposal does not anticipate the challenges in application to the veterinary community and we are providing the sponsors with information on the concerns raised by this bill as applied to the veterinary community.
Prescription Monitoring Program – SB 5496 modernizes terms that are inaccurate, confusing, stigmatizing, or medically outdated and it defines program records as confidential and exempt from disclosures. WPHP coordinates mental health and substance abuse services for veterinarians and other health providers. Confidentiality of WPHP records is key to covered health professionals utilizing this resource. Numerous studies have shown that fear of loss of confidentiality discourages getting care when needed. The bill passed out of the Senate Committee on Health and Long Term Care on Wednesday.
Posted January 28, 2022