For too many New Yorkers, the devastation of opioid addiction began following a routine medical procedure. A dental surgery. A sports injury. A prescription meant to manage short-term pain. What followed for some families was something no one anticipated: dependence, addiction and, in the worst cases, overdose. These outcomes could be mitigated with education from their physicians regarding the proper usage and risk factors associated with these prescriptions.

The Opioid Patients’ Right to Know Act (S.6758B/A.9010B), sponsored by ztate Sen. Nathalia Fernandez and Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal and passed by the state Senate, will ensure that all patients, and parents in the case of minors, receive a brief, standardized discussion about risks and safer options before starting opioids. New Yorkers deserve transparency in their health care decisions to understand both the benefits and the risks of the medications they are prescribed. In a crisis that has touched nearly every community in New York,........

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