2022 Nevada Revised Statutes
Chapter 639 - Pharmacists and Pharmacy
NRS 639.2391 - Required documentation for prescription of certain controlled substances for treatment of pain; prohibition on issuing initial prescription for certain controlled substances in certain quantities and amounts.
1. If a practitioner, other than a veterinarian, prescribes or dispenses to a patient for the treatment of pain a quantity of controlled substance that exceeds the amount prescribed by this subsection, the practitioner must document in the medical record of the patient the reasons for prescribing that quantity. A practitioner shall document the information required by this subsection if the practitioner prescribes for or dispenses for the treatment of pain:
(a) In any period of 365 consecutive days, a larger quantity of a controlled substance listed in schedule II, III or IV than will be used in 365 days if the patient adheres to the dose prescribed; or
(b) At any one time, a larger quantity of a controlled substance listed in schedule II, III or IV than will be used in 90 days if the patient adheres to the dose prescribed.
2. Unless the practitioner determines that the prescription is medically necessary, a practitioner, other than a veterinarian, shall not issue an initial prescription of a controlled substance listed in schedule II, III or IV for the treatment of acute pain that prescribes:
(a) An amount of the controlled substance that is intended to be used for more than 14 days; and
(b) If the controlled substance is an opioid and a prescription for an opioid has never been issued to the patient or the most recent prescription issued to the patient for an opioid was issued more than 19 days before the date of the initial prescription for the treatment of acute pain, a dose of the controlled substance that exceeds 90 morphine milligram equivalents per day. For the purposes of this paragraph, the daily dose of a controlled substance must be calculated in accordance with the most recent guidelines prescribed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
3. As used in this section, "acute pain" means pain that has an abrupt onset and is caused by injury or another cause that is not ongoing. The term does not include chronic pain or pain that is being treated as part of care for cancer, palliative care, hospice care or other end-of-life care.
(Added to NRS by 2017, 4430; A 2019, 2137)
